Tradin' Skyscrapers for Fields
by wittleblonde42
Summary: After an accident that leaves Tris and Caleb orphans, they have to move from Chicago to Cloverdale Oregon to live with their parents' friends, the Pedrads. City-slicker Tris must now get used to being on a diary without a city in site. She doesn't think she could ever transition from Chicago to Oregon, but she has to live in Oregon for the next two years. *AU*
1. Chicago to Oregon

Never in a million years did I imagine I would be leaving my Chicago home. I've grown up in the city and am in love with the constant moving. Since I was young I've never been the kind of person who wants to slow down and do nothing, I've got to stay busy. Sure I like to spend a day here or there laying around and watching Netflix, but honestly I'd rather go shopping or hang out in the city.

My brother on the other hand loves to sit around and read. He just wants to know everything there is to know in this world. Sure, it can be interesting, but I rather experience things. I love to spend my nights out on the town and my days in cafes. My father told me that I'd always be an urbanite. It's in my blood.

But here I am on a place heading to Oregon and not Portland; I'm on my way to a dairy in Cloverdale Oregon. My brother and I are flying into Portland and then there is a two-hour drive to get to Cloverdale.

My parents passed away a few weeks ago, it was an accident and I don't like to talk about it. In their will they said that my brother and I were to go to their friends the Pedrad's. Neither of my parents had any siblings so I didn't have any aunts or uncles to go to. I haven't seen Sean since I was about thirteen and I can't even remember the last time I saw their boys. Caroline however was at my parents' funerals.

Their oldest son is only a year and some months older than Caleb and the two of them have always been complete opposites. The younger son is the same age as me and from what I remember we always got along pretty well. We were troublemakers together, but I'm not sure how I'm going to handle living with him. I'm going to be living with the Pedrad's for two years. I can't go back to Chicago until I'm eighteen unfortunately.

The plane lands and I look over at Caleb, neither of us have said much about leaving our home. I stand up and follow my brother off of the plane. Once I can look around me I realize that Portland is a good-sized city. My heart races with the thought of exploring the foreign buildings. I'm sure there are stores and restaurants I've never heard of. My brother notices me going googly-eyed over the new place and he grabs my hand to drag me along.

"Caleb, did you see how much is out there?" I ask him.

"Yes Beatrice, we're in a city."

"We need to stay here, can you imagine all of the fun we can have?"

"We can't stay here, we're going to the Pedrad Dairy, remember?"

"Don't remind me," I whimper.

"It'll be nice. A change of pace."

"Slow, sounds like a blast," I roll my eyes.

"How come you have so much disgust towards the country?"

"There is nothing in the country, which means there is nothing fun out here."

"You don't know that."

"But I do."

We grab our luggage and then I see Caroline waiting for us with her younger son, Uriah. His dark hair is done in a fohawk and he gives me a white toothy grin. I don't remember Uriah being handsome, but he is. Caleb and I walk over to the two and say hello. Caroline gives each of us a hug and then Uriah gives me a hug as well.

"How're you guys doing?" Caroline asks.

"Alright," Caleb answers.

"Are you guys hungry?"

"I'm okay."

"I'm hungry," Uriah whines.

"So you want food?" his mom raises an eyebrow at him and he nods furiously.

"How about Panda Express? I need some Chinese food in my life," Uriah smiles at his mom.

"Didn't you and Zeke just eat that?"

"That was yesterday."

"You're gross, and I'm pretty sure you aren't my child."

"Oh I'm adopted now?"

"No, you're just your dad's kid."

"I like him better than you anyways," he smirks and I let out a laugh.

"Don't encourage him Tris! He'll never stop if you do!"

"Sorry," I hold back the remainder of my laugh.

We walk through the airport until we find a Panda Express and Uriah runs into line to get food. My stomach growls at the smell and I go to stand in line with him. Caleb and Caroline stand behind us. Uriah orders more food then I could eat in a day. Once we get our food we all go sit down at a table to eat.

"Uriah, did you seriously get six eggrolls, double orange chicken and fried rice with chow mein," Caroline pulls her nose up in disgust.

"Did you seriously just get a small bowl of steamed veggies and beef with broccoli?" he mimics her expression.

"You're disgusting, have I mentioned that before?"

"Once or twice," he says before shoving too much chicken in his mouth.

"You know, I wish I had girls. Boys are weird."

"Girls aren't any better," Caleb smirks.

"We're better," I grin.

"It'll be nice having another girl in the house, I won't be so outnumbered anymore. I mean sure almost every cow we have is female, but I think they'd chose the boys over me. The boys give them food," Caroline says.

"How big is your dairy?" I ask.

"Big," she grins, "There is always something to do."

"Do you only have cows?"

"We have more animals then you can imagine. Sean can't seem to stop buying different creatures. I swear we've got about six horses now and only one of them is ride able and even then I've seen Sean get bucked off of him."

"Hey, I can ride Comet," Uriah says.

"Barely," his mother rolls his eyes.

"I can ride him better than you can."

"Molly can ride that horse better than you and she's six."

"You can't compare me to that brat."

"She is not a brat," Caroline laughs.

"Dad bought Comet from her family, she's been around that horse since he was a baby and her dad trained him."

"I'm just saying I don't know why we have horses."

"Cause they're cool."

"I mean they're all pretty horses, but I think I'd enjoy them more if I could actually ride them."

"They're going to be ride able eventually. They just need to be broken first."

"How come you bought horses that aren't broken?" Caleb asks.

"Ask Sean. He just started bringing wild horses home."

"Have you ever ridden?" Uriah asks me.

"I've never been around a horse before."

"We should put you on Comet."

"I'd probably die."

"No, you'd do fine. I just know."

"What time do we need to be home?" Caroline asks her son.

"Soon," he laughs.

"Why?"

"You're supposed to watch Molly today."

"Since when?"

"Since Evelyn called yesterday and I said that you could watch Molly."

"Uriah! You need to tell me these things."

"It's fine, Dad can take care of her until we get home."

"You know Dad can't handle Molly. She drives him crazy."

"If he can't handle her then she's just gonna have to tag along with Four until we get back."

"This is why none of our horses are broken, you realize this right?"

"Molly helps."

"Four can't break a horse with Molly being his shadow and you know it."

"Oh shush, Mom. You know just as well as I do that Molly has been his shadow since she started crawling."

"I'm so confused. You know someone named Four?" my brother asks.

"It's his nickname, his sister gave it to him when she was four and somehow she got it to catch on. A few miles from our house is a ranch, we've known the family who owns it for years now. They have horses that are actually broken, but it's because they actually need their horses. Unlike us," Caroline says.

"My dad talked to Marcus, the dad a while back and that's when he bought Comet. Since Marcus actually needs horses he knows how to train them, so does his kid. So my dad decided that to break our horses we needed someone who knows what they're doing. Marcus suggested that he employ Four, so he did," Uriah adds on.

"And Molly?" I ask.

"She's the baby of the family. Evelyn, her mom, brings her by the house about twice a week or so and I watch her. It gives Evelyn some time to get paper work done at home and I don't mind. Molly is a good kid. But when she's with her brother he can't get anything done, she has a way of distracting him," Caroline says as she stands up, "Come on children, we need to get back home."

The drive is long and it doesn't take long to leave the city, soon enough fields and nothing else surround me. We drive through small towns here and there, but for the most part everything seems pretty empty. Uriah sits in the front seat next to his mom, constantly changing the radio station. Caroline will go back and put country music on though the minute Uriah isn't paying attention. The two have gone back and forth with the radio since we got into the car.

She changes is again and Uriah instantly goes to put something else on. Berzerk fills the speakers and I grin to myself, Uriah and I do have similar taste in music. Immediately Uriah starts dancing in his seat to the music and Caroline rolls her eyes. He mouths the lyrics to her and makes exaggerated gestures with his hands. When the chorus starts he is suddenly unbuckled from his seat and he has his butt near his mother's face, still dancing ridiculously.

I'm going to crash!" Caroline yells through her laughs and Uriah continues, "Sit your ass down!"

He sits down in his seat but continues to bug his mother. She seems used to the act though.

"Plus I just showed up with a coat fresher than wet paint. Sweet love is a chess game, check mate. But girl your body's banging, jump me in, bang bang," I whisper along to the lyrics.

"What was that Tris?" Uriah gives me a devilish grin as he turns to look at me and I stop.

"She knows every word to this song," Caleb sighs.

"So come get on this kid drop, bop with the bop, gang gang. P-p-p-pow pow chicka wow wow. Catch a cab, I wanna go down, br-bow-bow. Slow it down, throw in the towel, t-t-towel towel. Low it down, I don't know how, how, how, how," I say with Uriah and he gives me a signature toothy grin.

"We just became best friends," he smiles at me.

I fall asleep for the remaining hour of the drive. Apparently I'm more tired then I believed I was. Caleb shakes my shoulder and I sit up to rub my eyes. I look out the car window and see a house coming into view. It's a large house that has a deck near the front door. A large yard and a gate surround the house. Caroline pulls up to the house and parks the car. Immediately two dogs run towards the gate with their tails wagging. Across from the house are a few large metal barns and numerous cows. The house has a barn directly to the left of the yard and there are different animals in that barn. Behind the house are two large pastures.

"Are your barns freestanding stalls?" my brother asks and I look at him confused.

"Yeah they are," Uriah answers, "And we keep the calves hutched on the other side of the barns."

"Would you mind showing me around?" suddenly my brother is eager to learn everything there is to know about being a dairy farmer.

"Sure, come on. I think Zeke should be out feeding the calves right now," Uriah says as he gets out of the car, Caleb follows his lead.

"You can just leave your stuff in the car for now if you want to," Caroline says to me as we both get out of the car.

"I'd rather just bring it in now."

"Okay, I'll show you where your room is."

I grab most of my bags and Caroline helps by taking one for me. We get past the two Labradors that are waiting for us at the gate and she goes up the deck to the front door. The dogs stay on the deck, knowing they aren't allowed in the house. The inside of the house is gorgeous. Everything is open and spacious in the home. Caroline leads me to a room at the end of the hall.

The room has a window that looks out onto the pasture as well as a queen-sized bed. I place my bags in the corner and already plan where I'm going to put my things. I fall onto the bed with a sigh once Caroline leaves. Nothing about Cloverdale is like Chicago. Eventually I get off of the bed and start putting my clothing into different drawers as well as the closet. I glance out the window into the pasture where a few of the animals are grazing.

In the middle of the pasture is a golden colored horse with a white mane and tail. It has a saddle on and it's got something in its mouth that leads to a thing on its head. The thing is attached to reigns. On the saddle is a small girl wearing cowboy boots, jeans, a tank top and a pink cowboy hat. She's leaning forward and has her arms wrapped around the horse's neck as it slowly goes in circles. A tall guy is leading the horse in a circle. He has a green mesh hat on that has a yellow symbol on it. A pair of thick light brown shoes are on his feet, the style of them remind me a bit of Doc Martens. He's got on a pair of worn out jeans and a white t-shirt.

"Wanna come check the dairy out?" Caroline asks as she stands in my doorway.

"Might as well," I say and follow her through the house.

We get out onto the deck and the two dogs wag their tails furiously at us. She leads the way and opens the gate that separates the yard from the house and dairy. The dogs run ahead of us and once they get farther away I hear Caroline yell, "You two come back here!"

"Do they ever run off?"

"If I'm not paying attention they will," she grins, "But it's cause they're looking for the boys."

"Are they the boys' dogs?"

"Yeah the big black one is Zeke's, his name is Dash and the smaller brown one is Uriah's. She's named Sheeba. Zeke got his first and then Uriah got Sheeba about two years after. She's only a year and a half."

"Do they always stay locked up in the yard?"

"Only if the boys are working, if they're just messing around the dogs are usually with them."

"Oh."

"I know this is different from Chicago."

"More than different."

"I didn't know if I'd ever be able to live out here when I first moved with Sean. His family always had dairies and he always wanted one. So when we got married we left Chicago just months later. You mom thought I was crazy for leaving," she grins, "And I was crazy. But it's not so bad out here. It's different, but that doesn't mean it's bad."

"I feel like Portland is more my style."

"Mine too," she smiles, "But I like it here too. Sure it smells like cows and I can't walk around in a pair of flip-flops cause I'm afraid I'll step in something, but it's home. I'm not saying this has to be your home forever, but for the next two years it's going to be your home."

"I know."

"Just give it a chance," she gives me a reassuring smile.

"I will."

"Promise?"

"Promise. You know you sound like my mom."

"She was my best friend since I was in diapers," she bites her bottom lip for a second, "I just can't believe she's gone."

"Me neither."

"I'm here for you though, okay? What ever you need."

"I know," I try to grin at her but can't.

"It's always going to hurt," she frowns, "But don't let that from allowing things to make you happy, okay?"

"Okay."

"I've got to go get Molly. Wanna come?"

"I'm out here," I shrug my shoulders.

We walk to the barn that sits on the left side of the house. Once I get closer I can see all of the different animals. There are chickens and rooster, sheep, goats, rabbits, a couple of pigs, llamas, and two horses inside. Caroline leads me to the gate of the pasture, which is between the yard of the house and the barn. She steps inside and I come in after her.

"For the most part the animals will leave you alone. There are a few goats that'll come up to us cause they're pretty tame. A horse might expect a treat from you; just ignore them if they do. Sean and the boys come in the pasture every so often so everything is fairly tame. Molly has every animal obsessed with her though, she's a little pistol."

I follow her through the pasture and make sure to watch my step. A couple of horses stand on the opposite side of us, munching on grass. As we approach the golden horse the guy gets it to stop walking in circles.

"Caroline!" the little girl's voice yells and the horse backs away, clearly frightened.

"Molly," the guys scolds her quietly, "You can't be loud like that while you're on Comet. He still scares easy."

"Peaches doesn't scare easy," she sits up and crosses her arms.

"Peaches is broken already and she's more used to you being noisy around her," he says as he steps closer to the horse and pats it, calming it down.

"Don't be such a baby," the girl says to the horse and pats him on the neck.

"Did you call my horse a baby?" Caroline fakes shock and puts her hands on her hips.

"Well he's being a baby," the girl furrows her eyebrows.

"I think it's time you come inside and leave your brother alone."

"How come?" she huffs.

"Cause he's got to work."

"He can work with me here."

"Don't you want to help me make cookies?"

"You're making cookies?"

"Only if you let your brother work."

"Four," she whines, "Take me off of Comet."

"I'm sorry were you saying something to me?" he crosses his arms over his chest.

"Please put me down?" she bats her eyelashes at him and he grins.

"Come on, spitfire," he says as he grabs her and puts her on the ground.

She walks over to Caroline and I, her dark brown eyes focusing on me. Every step she takes is full of determination, as she gets closer to me.

"Who're you?" she looks up to me.

"Tris," I say and crouch down to her eye level.

"Where'd you come from?"

"Chicago."

"Why?"

"To live here."

"You're gonna live with Caroline?"

"Yes."

"I like you," she smiles at me, revealing her two front teeth missing.

"How come?"

"You're pretty."

"Thank you," I smile at her.

"Come here," she says and grabs my hand. She leads me over to her brother and has me stop right in front of him. "This is Four," she says, "He's nice. You should be his friend. Don't you want to be her friend, Four? She's pretty."

"Nice to meet you, Tris," he says to me.

"You too."

"Go inside with Caroline, spitfire," he grins at his little sister.

"Are you taking me home?" she looks up at him.

"Yes. I'll come get you when I'm done."

"Okay," she says as she turns away from him and faces me again.

"Get out of here," he says as he pats her butt and she starts walking forward towards Caroline.

"What kind of cookies are we gonna make?" Molly looks up to Caroline as we head back to the gate. I can see both dogs sitting outside of the gate waiting for us.

"What ever kind you want to make," Caroline answers her.

"What kind do you wanna make?" Molly asks me.

"What's your favorite kind?"

"Peanut butter," her eyes widen.

"Mine too," I grin.

"Really?"

"Tris loves peanut butter," Caroline says, "It's her favorite."

"Mine too!" Molly jumps up with excitement, "Do you like peanut butter sandwiches?"

"Of course I do," I say as I open the gate.

"Me too!"

We get into the house and Caroline starts grabbing everything we need to make the cookies. She sits Molly up on the counter and puts a bowl next to her. It doesn't take long to make the dough and have it on cookie sheets, ready to bake. I put the first batch in the oven and Molly waits patiently for the cookies to be done.

"Why don't you go outside on the trampoline," Caroline says to Molly.

"What about the cookies?"

"I'll tell you when they're done."

"Wanna go on the trampoline with me?" Molly asks me.

"Sure," I say, even though I'd rather sit in my bed and sleep. It's been a long day to say the least.

"Come on," Molly says as she hops off of the counter and onto the floor.

She grabs my hand and leads me outside into the yard. Directly behind the house is a garden full of vegetables, it's got it's own gate, to keep the dogs out I assume. Next to the garden is a trampoline, the dogs follow us to it and lay down on the grass. Molly climbs up onto it and then I get on after her.

"Wanna play crack the egg?" she sits down in the middle of the trampoline.

"What's that?"

"I sit in the middle criss cross applesauce and hold my feet then you have to jump so that I let go. When I let go that means you cracked me."

"Okay, so I just try to crack you?"

"Yes," she smiles as she grabs her feet and I begin jumping.

She is light and it isn't hard to get her high in the air. As she bounces she screams in glee and I find myself laughing as she falls back onto the trampoline. Laughing feels foreign to me lately and I can't remember the last time I actually laughed. But here I am laughing with a six year old while I jump on a trampoline. Eventually she lets go of her feet while she's high up in the air.

"You win," she giggles as she lays on her back, slightly sinking into the trampoline.

"I do?" I grin.

"You cracked me!" she squeals.

"Now what do you wanna play?"

"Wanna play again?"

"Only if you're the egg again," I say.

"Okay," she smiles and gets back in position so I can start jumping again. We play a few more times before Caroline yells that the cookies are done. I follow Molly back into the house; it smells sweet and my mouth waters. I grab one of the cookies and hand it to Molly before taking one for myself. The cookie tastes just like the ones my mom would make and I smile a little bit.

I spend the next hour with Molly in the living room coloring. She gets tired after a while and curls up on my lap. Within minutes she's asleep, I take her hat off of her and put it next to me. Caroline comes into the living room and sits on the couch.

"Looks like you've made a new friend."

"Apparently," I say as I play with Molly's long dark hair.

"She's a pistol, huh?"

"How does she have so much energy?"

"I have no idea," Caroline grins, "Her brother was the most laid back kid when he was little, she's the complete opposite."

"She's pretty cute though."

"Adorable."

About another hour passes before Uriah and Caleb come back in the house. Molly stays sleeping on my lap even though the boys are loud. Caroline tells me that Zeke and Sean will be back inside any minute too, for dinner. Right on schedule Sean enters the house, he gives Caroline a kiss before saying hello to me.

"I'd give you a hug, but it seems like you're busy," he smiles at me.

"I've been busy for a while now," I grin, "It makes sense why she has so much energy, she takes the longest naps in the world."

Zeke comes in the house next with Four at his side. The two seem to be talking about something and then Zeke explodes into laughter. Four shoves him while grinning and then puts a finger to his mouth to shush him before pointing to me. Zeke stifles the rest of his laugh after he sees that Molly is asleep.

"Hey Tris, long time no see," Zeke smiles at me, he and Uriah have the same smile.

"I know," I grin at him.

"Looks like I'm not gonna be Molly's favorite person anymore."

"You're her favorite?" I raise an eyebrow, "She hasn't said anything about you all afternoon."

"Looks like you're old news," Uriah smirks.

"Apparently."

"I can take her from you," Four says as he walks in to the living room. I stand up from my spot on Molly stirs. He puts his arms out and I hand her over to him. She automatically wraps her arms around his neck and lays her head on his shoulder, never once opening her eyes. I pick up her hat and he grabs it with his free hand.

"Does your mom need me to watch her anymore this week?" Caroline asks.

"I think she needs you to have her all of Thursday. Last time I checked she had some appointment in the morning and then her and my dad had some stuff to do. I can just take her home with me again once I'm done. "

"How's my horse doing?" Sean asks him.

"Better, he just spooks easily. Molly yelled today and I thought he would try to buck her off of him, but he didn't. Just backed up, but he calmed down pretty quickly."

"You're dad was right, you know your stuff."

"You've just got to get them to trust you, that's more then half the battle."

"You coming back tomorrow?"

"Yeah, I was thinking about getting a bit in the mustang's mouth."

"That mustang is wild."

"I know," he grins.

"Do whatever you want, kid, as long as I have horses that can be ridden in the future I'm happy."

"They'll be ride able soon enough."

"I believe ya."

"I'll see you guys tomorrow."

"Bye kiddo," Caroline says to him and he nods to her before leaving.

"What's gotten into him?" Zeke says after Four leaves.

"What?" Caroline says.

"He was all talkative today."

"You consider that talkative?"

"Compared to how he normally is around you guys yeah."

"He does talk to me, dummy," Caroline says.

"Barely."

"Whatever you say, Zeke. You guys hungry?"

"Starving," Sean says.

"Good dinner is almost finished."

"It's not done yet?" Uriah whines.

"Aren't you still full from lunch?" Caroline asks.

"No, that was hours ago."

"You're a pig."

"Always," he snorts and I laugh.

"Tris! Remember you can't laugh at him, he'll think he's funny," Caroline says.

"I forgot," I laugh.

"She's my best friend mom. Obviously she gets my sense of humor," Uriah smirks.

"You two are exactly how you were when you were younger," Sean shakes his head.

"I know, I thought them not seeing each other for years would make them not be some kind of team, but I was wrong," Caroline frowns.

"It's like they were with each other yesterday."

"Stop complaining," Uriah smiles.


	2. Sardines

I'm kicking around a rock with Sheeba and Dash ahead of me. Caleb is walking in front of me with Zeke and Uriah is beside me. Apparently I need to explore the dairy more, so we're headed to the barn.

We step inside the barn and all I can hear is mooing and the sound of hooves on the ground. Caleb seems to know almost everything there is to being a dairy farmer. He's asked more questions than I can count, since we've gotten here.

Our first week went by fairly quickly. We had to get settled in. I like the days where Caroline watches Molly. Molly keeps me distracted and she knows how to make the dairy fun. Uriah has tried to get me to mesh with his friends, but I've come up with every excuse to get out of going out.

I'm not sure what going out here consists of and I don't know if I want to know. Eventually I'm going to need more friends, but right now it's the beginning of summer and school doesn't start for months.

I follow the boys through the barn and when we exit it they bring us to all of the hutches. Each hutch has a calf tied to it and they all begin mooing when they see Zeke and Uriah.

"Yeah, yeah," Zeke says, "We're gonna feed you."

"Wanna help?" Uriah turns to me.

"What do I do?"

"Just stay here while I go get some bottles. The hutches nearest to us have the younger calves, they're the friendliest. The farther ones are older and are skittish."

I wait by Caleb for the boys to bring bottles back. They drive up in what looks like a golf cart and in the back of it are numerous bottles of milk. Uriah and Zeke both jump out and start putting bottles in the slot on the side of each hut. The calves quickly begin eating.

"Here," Zeke says as he hands me a bottle.

I walk up to a hutch and before I can put the bottle in the slot of the hutch the calf has it in its mouth. I try to pull the bottle away from it but it quickly starts eating again.

"Uriah!" I yell and start to laugh.

"You're supposed to put the bottle in there," he points to the slot.

"I'm trying. It won't let me have it."

"Pull it away from her."

"I did. She just took it from me again," I say through my laughter as the calf continues to suck on the bottle.

"Looks like you're just gonna have to feed her," he chuckles.

We finish feeding all of the calves and then start to walk back to the house. Zeke turns a corner away from the house and everyone follows. I sigh and follow along. I'd rather go back into the house, but I need to start giving this place a chance. If I don't I'm just going to be miserable.

I follow the boys into a building that if full of four wheelers. They each go and sit on one and I stand, watching them.

"Come on Tris," Uriah says and pats the spot behind him.

"Do I trust you enough to get on that thing?"

"Of course," he gives me his signature toothy grin.

"Oh, come on, he'll drive slow," Zeke says.

"Where are we going?" I cross my arms over my chest.

"The pond," Uriah says as he starts up his four-wheeler.

"There's a pond here?"

"Yeah, just through the corn field."

"Alright," I grin and climb on behind Uriah.

I wrap my arms around his waist as Caleb and Zeke start up theirs. We all leave the building at the same time. I can feel Uriah switch into second gear as we get out on the dairy. Zeke flys by us while waving, Caleb right behind him.

"Hold on," Uriah turns to say to me as he switches gears.

I lean in closer to him as we pass up Caleb and then Zeke. Uriah turns into the cornfield. The corn only comes up to about Caleb's knee and we speed through it. I bounce around on the four-wheeler as Uriah drives. The wheels kick up dust behind us. I look over to my right and can see Zeke headed in the same direction as us, just a few rows away from us. Uriah hits one dip and I yelp as I bounce into the air.

"Don't fall off, Tris," he grins.

"I'm trying not to," I laugh.

We come up to a pond and he cuts the engine. Not two minutes later both of the boys pull up next to us. The sun makes the water in the pond sparkle and I take a minute to look around. There is corn on my right and a filed full of tall grass on my left. It doesn't take long for the dogs to find us; Dash goes right into the water with Sheeba on his heels.

"You coming to Shauna's tonight?" Zeke asks Uriah.

"I was thinking about it."

"You guys wanna come?" Zeke looks over at Caleb and I.

"I was actually going to sleep early tonight. I've been wiped out," Caleb says.

"Yeah, me too," I say.

"No, you can't bail on us again," Uriah crosses his arms over his chest.

"I don't bail on you."

"You do too. Caleb has come with us before, so you have to come tonight."

"But-"

"No buts, you're coming tonight."

"It's just a kick back," Zeke looks at me, "It'll be fun."

"Fine," I huff, "What time do I need to be ready?"

"Eh, like seven."

"Okay."

"We should head back. Dad needed me today," Uriah says and we all get ready to leave.

* * *

I help Caroline around the house for a while before sneaking back outside. Once I leave the house I walk around the yard. An apple falls off of one of the trees and I go to pick it up. I carry the apple out of the yard with me and go towards the barn. Instead of going in the barn I stand by the gate that leads out to the pasture. A couple of horses are grazing as well as a few goats.

I climb up onto the gate and sit down. The two horses don't pay much attention to me. A goat walks up to me and sniffs at my feet before walking away. The air here seems lighter, like it isn't full of pollution. I miss the buildings of Chicago though.

After a half an hour goes by one of the larger horses notices me. It keeps its eyes on me and I make sure not to break eye contact with it. Slowly it starts to come over to me. Each step it takes is hesitant, but then after a while it'll take another one getting closer to me.

"Come here," I say to the horse and reach a hand out towards it.

The dark brown horse stops when it hears my voice. Its black mane and tail move with the breeze. I slowly put my hand back down and take the apple. Once I have the apple I put my hand back out.

"Want it?" I ask gently, trying to get it to come to me.

It eventually comes close enough to take the apple from my hand. While it's eating I take my other hand and softly put it on the horse's nose. At first the horse freezes in its spot at the touch, but then it goes back to eating. I smile at the horse and pat its nose.

"Look!" I hear Molly scream from behind me, which makes the horse back up. "Tris got Champ to go to her!"

Once Molly yells the second time the horse leaves me quickly. It goes back to the far corner of the pasture to graze again. I sigh and turn to see Molly with her dark hair in a high ponytail, her brother not too far behind her.

"Hi, Miss Molly," I say as I hop off of the gate.

"Hi," she smiles up at me, "How'd you do that?"

"Do what?"

"Touch Champ."

"I fed him."

"I tried that before," she frowns, "He wouldn't come by me. Four, did you see that? She touched Champ."

"Yes I saw," he smiles at his sister.

"Have you touched Champ?"

"No, he doesn't trust me."

"Why?"

"Cause he doesn't."

"Is he not tame?" I ask.

"He's a mustang," Four says to me, "I figured I'd try to break him last cause he's going to be the hardest. But maybe I was wrong, I just need you around and maybe I can get him to warm up to me."

"Me?"

"Yeah, you got him to come to you."

"I didn't do anything though."

"He apparently trusts you. I'm going to be back next week. We'll groom him and hopefully that'll make him less weary of me."

"Grooming him?"

"Yeah, it helps them trust you. You willing to help me out?"

"Uh, yeah."

"Good," he smiles at me before looking down at Molly, "You go with Tris."

"Okay," she grins and grabs my hand.

I take Molly towards the barn while her brother goes out into the pasture. She leads me to the rabbits and then she crouches down to pet them. We spend a few minutes in the barn before she hears meowing. Molly grabs my hand again and we go towards the meowing. She finally finds the cat with its kittens.

"Cinnamon had babies," she squeals as she gets on her hands and knees to examine the litter.

"Caroline said she thought Cinnamon was gonna have them," I say.

"Look how tiny they are," Molly whispers as she pets one of the kittens.

"Are their eyes open?"

"I don't know."

"Check."

"How?"

"Pick one up, I'm sure Cinnamon will let you. She likes you, right?"

"Yeah," she smiles and then picks up a white kitten, "Its eyes are closed."

"So they're still pretty new. Want to go tell Caroline you found them?"

"Yes," she jumps up and takes my hand again.

"Lets go tell her then," I say and we start walking back to the house.

"I like you, Tris," Molly says breaking our short silence.

"I like you too."

"You should be Four's girlfriend."

"Why?" I chuckle.

"Cause I like you and you're nice."

"That doesn't mean he likes me."

"He could like you."

"Oh really?"

"Yes, he just needs to talk to you. Then he'll like you."

"And how do you know that?"

"Cause I talked to you and now I like you."

"Go inside," I laugh as we get to the house.

* * *

I follow the boys to Zeke's truck after we get ready to go to Shauna's. Uriah climbs into the back of the truck with me. The drive is about thirty minutes and it's dark. It's odd that there aren't any streetlights in the country, but then again there aren't many cars on the road. We eventually pull up to a lonely house with its lights on. The house has tall grass on three sides of it and a small shed to the left of it. Zeke parks the truck and we all get out. Uriah leads the way to the house.

"Hey!" a blonde girl yells when we walk in the house. She goes straight to Zeke and he lifts her up into a hug before kissing her.

"Hi," he smiles at her before putting her back down on the ground.

"I'm glad you came."

"Of course I came. Hey this is Tris, she's Caleb's sister," Zeke points to me.

"Nice to meet you," Shauna smiles at me.

"You too," I say before looking around the room.

There is another blonde girl that shares some of Shauna's features and I assume the two are sisters. The other blonde girl looks rougher than Shauna though. On the other side of the room is a brunette girl with wavy hair; her bright green eyes go straight to Uriah. Next to her is a girl with short black hair and dark brown eyes. The girl is tall and slender and I'm instantly envious of her, if only I was taller.

The tall girl is sitting next to a boy with shaggy blonde hair. The two seem to be in a deep conversation. Out from the kitchen comes Four and I'm taken back for a moment, but then I remember that he's friends with Zeke.

"Hey," I nod towards him.

"Looks like the princess finally decided to come out," he smirks.

"Princess?" I raise my eyebrows.

"Yeah princess."

"Whatever," I roll my eyes.

"Who's your friend, Four?" the tall girl comes up behind him.

"This is Tris. Tris this is Christina."

"Are you the one from Chicago?" she asks.

"Yeah, that's me."

"I finally get to meet you," she smiles, "Come here, I'll introduce you to everyone," she grabs my wrist.

"This is my boyfriend, Will," she points to the shaggy haired boy, "That's Lynn. I promise she's not as mean as she looks. Marlene is the one makin' eyes at Uri."

"Chris!" Marlene blushes.

"We all know you two have been hooking up," Christina winks at her, "This is Tris guys."

They all say hello to me and I follow Christina into the kitchen to get a beer. She opens up the bottle with a lighter and hands it over to me. We go back into the living room and I find any empty seat next to Four.

"You drink?" he asks.

"Who doesn't?"

"I wasn't sure if city-slickers drank."

"Shut up," I roll my eyes.

"Wanna play kings cup?" Zeke asks everyone as he shuffles a deck of cards.

"What's that?" I ask.

"Aw, Trissy, you don't know what kings cup is?"

"No."

"Apparently they don't play drinking games in Chicago," Zeke smirks.

"We do, I've just never played that game."

"We'll teach you, come sit in the circle."

I get up and go to sit in a circle around the table. There is a large glass in the middle of the table and cards faced down surround it. Zeke explains the rules and we start to play the game. I have Four to my left and Christina to my right. It doesn't take long for me to catch on and soon we're on our fourth round. Everyone has started to get tipsy.

"Three. Me," Uriah frowns then takes a swig from his beer.

"Ace. Waterfall." Shauna says.

"Ugh, we just did that one," Zeke whines which causes a few people to giggle before they bring their beers to their lips. We do the waterfall pretty quickly, all of us drunk.

"Ten. Categories," Zeke says before thinking, "Makes of cars. Chevy."

"Ford," Will says.

"Honda," Christina smiles.

"Mercedes," I grin.

"Dodge," Four turns to look at Marlene.

"Buick," she looks at Uriah.

"Honduras," he says and looks at Shauna.

"Did you just say Honduras?" Zeke giggles.

"Yeah, did someone alre- oh," his cheeks turn pink as we all start laughing.

"Drink up babe," Marlene smiles at him and he takes a gulp of beer.

"Nine. Rhyme," Will shows us his card, "Sin."

"Bin," Christina quickly says to me.

"Vin," I turn towards Four.

"Diesel," he says to Marlene and her face distorts to confusion.

"Did you just say diesel?" I ask.

"Yeah," he says.

"We were rhyming," I chuckle, "I said vin."

"Oh," his eyes widen, "We weren't talking about Fast and Furious?"

"No," Zeke erupts into laughter and we all start laughing as well.

"I drink, huh?" Four starts laughing.

"Yes," I say as I grab his beer and hand it to him.

"I think he's done playing this," Christina grins.

"Just a bit," Zeke smiles.

"Lets play sardines!" Marlene jumps up from her spot.

"I love that game!" Christina yells.

"I actually know what that games is," I laugh.

"Who wants to hide first?" Marlene asks everyone.

"I will," Shauna smiles.

"I'll hide with her," Zeke smirks.

"If you two pervs are hiding together you have to promise not to make out," Lynn crosses her arms.

"Swear," Shauna raises her hand.

"Okay, go hide," Lynn nods towards the door and the two run outside.

We stay in the house for a few minutes before all leaving to go find them outside. I walk around the house, staying close to the building. If I go into the grass it's going to make it impossible for me to look. The grass is taller than me. I sneak around the shed and I hear footsteps behind me. I turn to see Four and he puts a finger to his mouth to keep me quiet before pointing to the door of the shed. I nod and go inside. In the corner of the dark shed is Zeke sitting next to Shauna. I go and sit next to them and then Four does the same. We all stay silent until everyone but Uriah has found us. Eventually Uriah finds all of us huddled in a group.

"How was this not the first place I looked?" he whines while we all laugh.

"Who found you guys first?" Lynn asks.

"Tris did and then Four did," Shauna answers.

"Alright then. We're going back inside for a few minutes and you two go find your hiding spot," Christina says.

The group leaves all of us and once we hear the front door of the house shut we emerge from the dark shed. I follow Four around the back of the house and into the grass. He walks into the grass and I make sure to stay right behind him, so I don't lose him. He stops walking and just sits down in the middle of the grass.

"Really?" I look down at him.

"They'll never find us," he grins.

"How do you know?"

"Cause the grass is too obvious and there is so much of it they could walk around us numerous times before they actually notice us."

"You have a point," I say as I sit down on the ground.

"I know what I'm doing."

"How would I know? I barely know you."

"You should just assume that I know what I'm doing."

"Alright," I snicker.

"So you're gonna help me break that horse?"

"If you want me to."

"Honestly no one else has even gotten close to that horse so having you help me would be perfect."

"If you think so then yeah I'll help."

"Okay," he smiles at me, "So you're from Chicago?"

"Yeah. You're from here?"

"Born and raised. Why'd you move?"

"Are we playing twenty questions right now?" I ask.

"No cause we're both asking questions. So why'd you move?"

"My parents had an accident."

"I'm sorry."

"It's okay. Is Molly your only sibling?"

"Yeah she is. She was an oops," he grins, "Caleb your only sibling?"

"Yeah he is. Your parents own a ranch?"

"That they do. How'd you know?"

"Sean and Caroline mentioned it. How come Caroline has Molly so much?"

"It's to help my mom out. She was pregnant once before Molly and she miscarried a few months into the pregnancy. She went into a state of depression and my dad started drinking. A lot. She's never been the same. I mean since Molly came around she's been better, but she's never been the same. Why does Molly like you so much?"

"I really have no idea," I laugh, "She told me it's cause she talked to me and then she liked me."

"Sounds like her," he says and we hear the front door open, "Whisper."

"Okay," I whisper to him, "Is your mom okay now?"

"Yeah. Molly being born changed a lot at our house. My dad had always been a drinker and he's never been a happy drunk. If he's smashed he'll say rude shit and do pretty much anything he wants, regardless of the consequences. He and I never have gotten along, but when I was a kid he didn't know how to be a dad. He was like a drill sergeant all of the time. With Molly he's actually a dad, he doesn't just chew her out. Heck he never chews her out. She's just been good for everyone. My mom hasn't been as depressed since she had Molly and my dad quit drinking. I mean he and I still don't have a good relationship. But at least we don't want to kill each other 24/7. You get along with your brother?"

"Yeah for the most part we do. We're just really different. Do you always talk this much after you've been drinking?"

"I've heard it happens," he chuckles. "Are you drunk?"

"Buzzed. You?"

"Hammered," he grins.

"I know."

"How do you know?"

"Just do," I smile at him.

"How come you never hang out with us?"

"I really didn't want to move here in the first place. I'm not much of a country person."

"Everyone can tell that princess."

"Oh really?"

"Yes," he grins, "No one around here dresses or acts like you. The girls all like to get down and dirty."

"I like to get dirty," I glare at him.

"That's the biggest lie you've ever told," he laughs.

"It is not."

"Yes it is," he smiles, "It's okay if you're not a country girl. Not every girl is, but it doesn't mean you can't try it. You might like it."

"Like what? Getting dirty?"

"It can be fun," he smirks.

"If you say so."

"You've just got to come hang out with us more."

"Do you like working for your dad?" I ask him.

"It's alright. I mean I like horses and I don't mind training them, but honestly I rather go pro."

"Pro what?"

"Bronc riding. Hell I'd even try bull riding."

"Bronc?" I raise an eyebrow.

"Horses that buck. They have the event at rodeos. If you're good at it you can make a killing. Sure you've got to travel, but it'd be fun as hell."

"Isn't that dangerous?"

"Life is dangerous."

"Yeah, but could you die riding?"

"Sure you could, but if you know what you're doing the chances are lower."

"I think you're insane," I say as I lay back onto the grass.

"Maybe, but it'd be the coolest job ever," he says as he lays back next to me.

"Think they're ever going to find us?"

"Not for a while," he grins.

"All we're doing is laying in grass."

"Exactly and they have no idea to look through the grass," he smirks.

"What the hell?" I can hear Marlene say.

"They've got to be around here somewhere," Uriah says to her.

"Do you think they're hiding in his truck?"

"Maybe," he says and then I hear them scurry out of the grass.

"Idiots," Four snickers.

"Okay, this is a good spot," I smile at him.

"I know," he grins, "You know you're not so bad when you aren't scowling at the world."

"Scowling at the world?"

"Yeah, you just always look pissed off and shit."

"I'm just not used to it here."

"You'll learn to love it."

"How do you know?"

"I just do," he turns towards me, "You look good tonight, Tris."

"Are you complimenting me?" I raise an eyebrow.

"I might be," he smiles at me.

"Thanks. You know you aren't so bad when you talk. You're not as scary as you come off."

"I come off scary?"

"Yeah."

"Awesome," he smirks before he looks up at the sky.

* * *

_Thank you for all of the kind reviews! You guys are my favorites. Have I ever mentioned that? So I made the story M because at the moment I have absolutely no idea where I'm going with it. So I figured I'd just make it M to begin with then I can do whatever I want with it. _

_I hope you guys like where this is going :)_


	3. Paintballing

I look down at the boots on my feet. They fit well, but they aren't the most comfortable things I've ever worn. Caroline swears that they'll be my favorite pair of shoes once I break them in. Before I leave the yard I make sure to grab a couple of apples to get Champ over to me.

"I don't wanna go inside," I can hear Molly whine as she jumps out of the truck and lands on the ground.

"I don't care," Four tells her.

"It's not fair. Tris is my friend and you're taking her away from me. I want to help you guys."

"Go inside with Caroline."

Molly lets out an angry huff and then stomps into the house. Four shuts the door of his truck before walking over to me.

"She doesn't seem to like you today," I say to him.

"Convinced I'm taking her friend away from her," he smirks and crosses his arms over his chest.

"Maybe you shouldn't steal your sister's friends."

"She'll get over it."

"Hopefully," I grin and hand him an apple.

"Want to head out?"

"Mhm."

I leave the yard and Four follows me. Instead of opening the gate I decide to just jump over the fence. Champ is off in the corner; he stops eating when he sees me.

"Have you been out here more often?" Four asks.

"I've been coming out here twice a day or so every day since he came up to me the first time."

"He getting comfortable with you?"

"I think so. I don't know if he'll come over to me right away today though, cause you're here."

"We'll give him some time."

"Should we just stand here and wait for him?"

"Yeah just let him take his time. We can't force him to trust us. He wasn't born around people so he doesn't know that we aren't going to hurt him. But I think he was around people when he was still pretty young."

"Why?"

"Usually you don't want a mustang around other animals and you want to keep it penned while you try to gain its trust. This one is more comfortable around people though. He's just not completely trusting yet."

"How long do you think it'll take for him to be fully trusting?"

"No idea. That's up to him."

We stand in the field silently for what seems like forever and eventually Champ begins to walk over to us. He's more timid now that Four is standing beside me but he does come over to us. I stick my hand out with the apple and he takes it like he always does. Four does the same thing and after a moment Champ takes the apple from him too.

Neither of us talk we just pay attention to the horse. Champ stands in front of us and his eyes go back and forth between us. I put my hand out and Champ takes a step forward so my hand rests on his nose.

"No shit," Four's voice is soft.

"What?" I whisper.

"He already trusts you a bit. More than I thought he did."

"How do you know?"

"He wants you to touch him. You've just got to make sure he knows you're the alpha."

"How?"

"Don't let him get into your space too much. If he does just push him away gently and go into his space to pet him."

"What if he gets mad at me?" I ask while I pet Champ's nose.

"He won't as long as you're not aggressive with him."

"You're sure?"

"I'm positive," he gives me a grin.

"How do we groom him?"

"We'll groom him next time. It'll probably be easier if we can get him in a stall in the barn."

"How do we get him in a stall?"

"He goes into the barn on his own and he's been in the stall on his own. I'll just put some extra hay in there and let him go in on his own."

"Okay."

"You coming tonight?" he looks over at me.

"Coming where?"

"Shauna's."

"I don't think I was invited."

"Of course you're invited. Everyone is always invited."

"Are Zeke and Uriah going?"

"Zeke is always at Shauna's."

"Good point," I grin at him.

"So you're coming?"

"I don't know, should I?"

"How else am I going to convince Molly that I'm stealing her friend?"

"Oh, so now you're trying to steal me from her?"

"Maybe," he smirks.

"That's pretty mean, stealing your little sister's friend."

"She'll have to learn to share I guess."

"Now she's sharing me?" I raise an eyebrow at him.

"She has to."

"Why does she have to?"

"Cause I said so," he bumps into me.

"You're stupid," I grin.

Zeke pulls up to Shauna's house and we all get out. Everyone is inside like last time only the boys are all around the table. I go over to say hi to Christina and she hands me a dingy sweatshirt.

"What's this for?"

"First full moon of summer," she smiles.

"And?"

"Girls against guys, loser supplies the beer and dinner for the night."

"What are we playing?" I ask completely confused about what's going on.

"Capture the flag."

"Really?"

"Yes, really. You've played before, I take it?"

"Yeah I played when I was a kid. Why do I need the old sweatshirt though?"

"You don't want the paint to ruin your clothes."

"The paint?"

"We're paintballing, dummy," Marlene gives me a huge smile before pulling a sweatshirt over her head.

"What?"

"Paintballing. If you get hit you're out and once you're out you've got to sit on the porch until the round is over. We play best two out of three. So it'll be Zeke, Uriah, Will, and Four against me, you, Chris, Lynn and Shauna," Marlene grins.

"Have you shot a paintball gun before?" Christina asks me.

"No, actually."

"Okay, we'll show you the ropes. It's honestly really easy."

"You girls ready to lose?" Uriah turns around and looks at us.

"You're going down Uri," Marlene squints her eyes at him.

"Come get a gun ladies," Will says to us.

Once we've all got a gun in our hands we're outside in one large group. Four shows me how to shoot the gun and Uriah explains the rules briefly. Christina grabs one of the flags and Zeke grabs the other. The boys run off first to hide their flag and then we go to hide ours. Uriah blows a whistle and we all crouch down, fully aware that the game has started.

"I'm going to scout out their flag," Lynn says to us before running off into the tall grass.

"I'm coming with," Marlene whispers and follows her.

"You wanna stay with the flag?" Christina asks Shauna.

"I always guard the flag. It's my post," Shauna grins.

"Wanna go get some of the boys out?" Christina turns to me.

"Sounds like fun to me," I smirk.

We run through the grass and I can hear someone shoot their gun. Christina goes through the grass and comes up to the shed. I stay close to the shed and peek around the corner. Right as I pop my head out my facemask is covered in pink paint.

"Damn it," Christina laughs and I wipe the paint off so I can see.

"I'm out, huh?"

"Basically," she chuckles.

I walk up to the porch of the house and watch the rest of the round unfold. Uriah is the one to find our flag and he takes Shauna out before she even has a chance to turn around. She jumps when the ball hits her and then lets out a frustrated growl.

"You better watch out next round Pedrad," Shauna points at him.

"Can't wait," Uriah smirks as he grabs our flag and waves it above his head.

"We win!" Will yells from somewhere in the grass.

The next round ends just as quickly as it started and I almost capture the boys' flag. Uriah is the one who gets me out, shooting me right in the butt.

Christina and I hide the flag for the last round of the night before taking off to get the boys. I hear Will yell after getting shot and Lynn gives me a devilish grin. I run to the porch and scout the large yard trying to see their flag. Near a tall tree I can see Zeke standing guard and I jump off the porch.

"Come on," I whisper to Christina and we run towards Zeke.

Christina hits Uriah on our way to Zeke and I grin knowing that there are only two more boys left in the game.

"I hate you," Marlene whines somewhere on my left and I know that Four must've gotten her.

"We need to hurry up," Christina laughs and I nod in agreement.

Christina and I split up when we get close to the tree. I go around the back and as I'm about to shoot Zeke I hear a gun go off near me and then Christina puts her gun up in the air to signal that she's been shot. I duck down into the grass and listen for footsteps. Four stays close to the ground as he runs in front of me. Right when he passes me I step out from the grass and light him up. He jumps up when the first ball hits him.

"You got me, you got me," he says putting his gun up.

"You've got to be more careful about where you walk," I smirk at Four.

"You were in the grass," he says and purses his lips together.

"Should've guessed," I grin.

"Sorry baby," I hear Shauna say and turn just in time to see her hit Zeke.

"Winners!" Lynn yells.

"You boys got to work on your skills," Marlene smiles.

"I've got great skills," Uriah glares at her.

"Liar."

"I shot Tris."

"Yeah, right in the ass," I cross my arms over my chest.

"That's gonna leave a mark," Christina chuckles.

"Time to line up losers," Shauna smirks and the boys slowly line up in front of us.

"Why're they lining up?" I ask Christina.

"Losers have to deal with a short round of civil war. Only they don't get any weapons."

"Civil war?"

"Okay so in the civil war they didn't hide and shit. They would literally stand in front of each other and shoot at each other."

"I took history class," I grin at Christina.

"Well the boys need to play a little bit of civil war. Only they won't get to shoot back at us."

"So we just get to destroy them," my eyebrows raise.

"Exactly."

"Can you guys hurry up and get this over with?" Uriah frowns.

"Cover the parts of your body you don't want hit," Lynn smirks and all of the boys cover their crotches.

"Ready, aim, fire!" Marlene yells before all of us start shooting the boys.

They jump with each hit and let out a few profanities. The girls all laugh after they each shoot a few shots.

The boys leave to get beer and return with pizza as well. Everyone sits in the living room eating their meals. I'm starting to get used to being in Oregon and honestly I'm starting to like it.

"Ya know, this pizza tastes great," Lynn says.

"It probably tastes so good cause we didn't have to pay for it," Shauna nudges Zeke and he sticks his tongue out at her.

"I love winning," Christina sings.

"Shush, next time you girls are going down," Will looks at Christina.

"In your dreams," Lynn smirks.

Everyone here has welcomed me into their group and I'm starting to feel like I belong. Uriah and I picked up immediately where we left off and even Zeke and I get along well. The adjustment from city life to country life is easier than I expected, but I still long for a skyline of buildings.

I haven't talked anyone into going to Portland with me. I've been craving the nightlife.

Four sits next to me and I sneak a glance at him. I'm not sure what my feelings are towards him. But I enjoy being around him. He stays quiet for the most part but when we're alone he talks to me more. I think he likes me hanging around with him. If he didn't he wouldn't want me to help with Champ, right?

"You going to sign up for the rodeo?" Zeke looks over at Four.

"I already am," he gives Zeke a grin.

"Of course. You know there isn't any bronc riding, right?"

"Yes I do, but there is bull riding."

"Are you seriously going to ride a bull?" Shauna raises an eyebrow.

"I've done it before," Four glares at her.

"Does your mom know you're signed up for it?" Will questions his friend.

"She thinks I'm going to do some roping."

"She's going to shit a brick when she realizes you're getting on a bull."

"She can't baby me forever."

"I agree," Zeke says, "But don't get too fucked."

"I won't," Four grins.

"Does your dad know that you're doing it?" Uriah asks him.

"He'd kill me. I'm supposed to be his number one horse trainer, remember?"

"Well you are."

"Yeah, but I don't want to always just be that. You all know that."

"You're good at riding, right?" I ask Four.

"Well it depends on the bull, but I've done it before."

"Successfully?"

"A few times," he grins.

"What was the first time like?"

"That question is a bit personal Tris," Uriah smirks at me.

"Shut up," I roll my eyes.

"I'm just saying you can't go around asking people what their first time was like."

"You're an idiot," Marlene laughs at Uriah.

"How'd you do the first time you rode a bull," I ask Four.

"I had adrenalin pumping through my body. I'd never been more excited in my life. So I get into the chute and onto the bull. Hold on tight and put my other hand up in the air. They opened up the shoot, the bull ran out and then I remember waking up in the hospital," he laughs.

"Seriously?" my eyes are wide.

"Yeah," he continues to laugh, "Knocked me right out."

"That bull bucked him off so fast," Zeke shakes his head, "He was done just as fast as he started."

"It was my first try, I'm better than that now," Four says.

"Let's hope you are," Shauna takes a swig of her beer.

"I am. I've done it a few times now."

"I'm just saying I don't want to have to take another hospital visit," Zeke looks at his friend seriously.

"You're not gonna."

"When's the rodeo?" I ask.

"About a month away," Uriah answers, "So you're coming with us to see Four hopefully not die, right?"

"Sure," I grin.

* * *

_I'm sorry I've taken forever to update :( midterms are killing me right now. _

_I'll try to update more, promise!_

_You guys are the best!_


	4. Portland

I sit in the passenger seat of Christina's Camry. My body is shaking with excitement, as we get closer to Portland. I'm not a fan of having to drive this far to go shopping, but it'll be worth it. Being in the city is going to make it all worth it.

Christina agreed to go shopping with me even though she admitted that she's never really spent a day in Portland. So we're going to explore together.

"Are you hungry?" Christina asks me.

"Starving actually."

"Can we please get food first?"

"You read my mind."

"Where should we go?"

"I don't know. I've never been to Portland, except for the first day I was here."

"I've never really been here either, just kind of passed through."

"Want to just pick a random place to eat and go there?"

"The first place I can't pronounce the name of, we're going to," she grins.

"What?" I smile.

"You heard me. If I can't pronounce it we're eating there."

"Okay," I chuckle.

Once we're in the city I can't stop turning my head from left to right. Everything feels a bit like home, buildings and people on the streets, I can't help but smile.

"Nuvrei," Christina mumbles.

"Huh?"

"Nuvrei," she points to a small café.

"Is that even how you say it?"

"I have no idea," she grins, "So I guess we're eating there."

She finds a parking spot and we both hop out of the car. Inside are brick walls and cases of desserts. Christina licks her lips as she stares at different colored macarons.

"What are those?" she doesn't take her eyes off of the French cookies.

"Macarons."

"And they are?"

"Cookies. They're pretty good."

"I need them all," she smirks at me.

"Fatty."

"You know you want them all too."

"Maybe," I smile, "What are you going to get to eat?"

"I was thinking something light. Like a salad."

"The ceasar salad does sound pretty good."

We each get a salad and Christina gets a few macarons to go. Out of all the girls here in Oregon I've taken a liking to Christina the most. She's really outgoing and I feel like she's the one girl I can turn into a city dweller.

"Want to just look around the shops here?" I ask her.

"Sure," she smiles at me.

We leave the small café and walk down the street. She goes into the first clothing store we see. Christina doesn't really look at the clothes. I'm not sure if she's actually enjoying this trip.

"Are you looking for anything specific?" a young girl asks us.

"No, just looking," Christina gives her a grin.

"Are you having fun?" I turn to Christina.

"Yeah," she smiles, "I don't think I've ever just spent a day shopping though."

"Really?"

"Yeah, I just stay around home for the most part."

"How come?"

"Everyone is content being around home."

"I've caught onto that."

"But I like being out and about," she pulls out a black dress.

"That's cute," I say to her.

"Try it on," she hands it to me.

"Me?"

"Yeah, it'll look hot on you. I'm sure Four will like it," she smirks.

"What matters if he likes it?"

"Oh come on, he's been making eyes at you since you stepped into Shauna's house."

"Shut up," I laugh.

"I'm serious. He doesn't take an interest in any of the girls we bring around. He's always just been standoffish towards them, but then Zeke and Uriah bring you in and he's all googly-eyed."

"You're dumb," I say as I grab the dress from her hands.

"I'm right," she smiles.

I go into the dressing room and take my clothes off so I can slip on the dress. Once it's on I step out so Christina can take a look at it. It's fitted and quite short. Back in Chicago it's something I'd wear out on a Friday night, here I'm not sure where I'd wear it though.

"That's hot," Christina nods her head.

"It does fit nice."

"You're buying it."

"No I'm not," I chuckle.

"Why?"

"I have no where to wear it."

"Yeah you do, just wear it because."

"It's a short black dress, there is no where to wear it. I live on a dairy."

"Wear it to the rodeo," her eyes have a mischievous glint in them.

"A dress to a rodeo?"

"Yeah, we'll pair it with some boots and a mesh hat or even a cowboy hat. It'll look perfect and Four will be all over you. Hell a bunch of guys will be all over you."

"I will be the only girl in a dress."

"Not even. I'll wear one too if you buy it."

"You will?"

"We'll both wear tiny black dresses and some boots."

"I'm only buying it if you promise I'm not going to be the chick in a dress at a rodeo."

"Cross my heart," she grins.

"I think we'll need to get you some red boots to go with it."

"Red?"

"They'll be a perfect pop of color and there are some really cute red boots around these days."

"Look at you. I had no idea you were such a fashion enthusiast."

"Neither did I," she smiles, "Come on. Buy the dress so we can go get your boots."

We spend the whole day in Portland and by the time the sun has set we get back to the car to leave. Christina pops open her trunk so we can put our many bags into it.

Back in Chicago I didn't really have a friend like Christina. Sure I had friends, but none that I felt actually close to.

"Thanks for asking me to go with you today," Christina smiles at me.

"Thanks for coming with me. I've been wanting to come to Portland for a while now, but I haven't wanted to go alone at all."

"I'll be your shopping buddy from now on," she grins at me.

"Yeah?"

"Of course. I think I'm going to be a shopping addict from now on. So you're not going to get rid of me."

"Sounds good to me."

"So, you and Four?"

"What about us," I lean back into the chair.

"You guys seem to get along really well."

"I guess we do. I don't know."

"You do. He's always been kind of scary, at least I think."

"Scary?" I giggle.

"Yes! Have you not paid any attention to him?"

"I've paid some attention to him."

"You've checked him out numerous times. That's for sure."

"Shut up," I swat her arm.

"I'm driving, you want me to kill us," she playfully glares at me.

"I prefer life."

"Me too, so no messing with the driver."

"Whatever," I roll my eyes and smirk.

"Come on, you like him. Just admit it."

"He's nice," I shrug my shoulders.

"You are the only girl on the face of the planet who thinks Four is nice."

"He is."

"He can be, but I don't just think he's nice. Unless he's with Molly. He's a completely different person around Molly."

"He and Molly are adorable together."

"You sound like every girl at school."

"What?" I turn to look at her.

"Every girl at school always talked about how precious it is to see him with his sister. They're the cutest thing ever and all the girls are convinced that since he's like that with Molly he can possibly be like that with a girl."

"Like with a girlfriend?"

"Yeah. I mean there is obviously a soft spot in him, just from seeing him with Molly everyone can tell that it exists."

"I think he's a good guy."

"He's a good guy, no doubt about it. If he wasn't the guys wouldn't all be such good friends with him. And Shauna adores him."

"She does?"

"Loves him. Zeke's her boyfriend and Four is one of her best friends. Four has a soft spot for Shauna too."

"I haven't seen that."

"It's there. Shauna is important to him. They've got like, this sibling bond. It developed quite quickly after Zeke and her started dating. I mean Zeke and Four have always been best friends and then he brought Shauna in. Some of us thought that Shauna was going to ruin the boys' relationship, but they just became a threesome of sorts. Shauna gets overprotective of Four sometimes, especially if a girl she doesn't like is all over him. She'll make a point to get them to go away. I assume she's noticed that Four has taken a liking to you."

"She's always been nice to me."

"Which means she likes you for Four."

"I think you're reading too much into this."

"I think you're not paying enough attention to the situation at hand," she says matter of factly.

"You're ridiculous."

"And you want Four and we all know he likes you."

"Whatever you say my dear."

"Have you two been training that horse together?"

"Just getting him to trust us."

"How's that going?"

"Pretty good, he let Four groom him the other day."

"That's definitely a step forward."

"Four said the same thing."

"What if Four wants you to ride the horse first, since it trusts you the most?"

"I guess I'm going to learn to ride a horse then," I shrug.

I head out into the pasture as usual and Champ comes to me immediately. Four is working with Comet right now and Comet seems to be giving him a hard time.

"Hi buddy," I say to Champ when he pushes his nose against my hand.

I look down at the halter on the ground. Four said it's time we get a halter on Champ. He thinks that the horse will be okay with it, as long as I'm the one to put it on him. Slowly I crouch to the ground and grab the halter. I bring it up to champ and let him check it out himself. Once I go onto the left of Champ and pat his neck a few times before sliding the halter over him.

He stays calm and lets me buckle the halter into place. Once it's completely on I can't help but smile to myself. Champ trusts me enough to let me put a halter on him. I look done at the lead rope on the floor and go down to grab it.

Champ lets me clip the rope onto his halter and I take a step in front of him. He follows me, not too closely but he does follow me.

Comet walks past me and I notice that Four is done with him for the day. Four has a huge smile on as he walks over to me.

"Did he put up a fight?" he asks me with a grin.

"Not at all, just let me put it on him like nothing."

"He trusts you, that's for sure."

"Look he even follows me," I say and take a few steps forward, Champ leisurely follows behind.

"He respects you as his leader."

"He does?"

"Yeah, that's why he's following you so well," he smiles at me.

"Do you think we'll be able to break him?"

"We will."

"How's Comet coming along?"

"I'm gonna try to ride him within a week or so."

"Really?"

"Yeah, he's ready. He's been doing really well."

"I'm sure Sean will be happy."

"I think Caroline will be happier. She's the one who was upset that her husband bought wild horses," he laughs

"You're very right," I say and pat Champ.

"You're coming to the rodeo right?"

"Yeah I am, why?"

"Just checking," he smiles.

"Why, you want me to go?"

"I'd like you to go, yes."

"Why?"

"Just would."

"That's not a good answer."

"That's the answer you're getting," he grins at me.

"Well I'm not coming then."

"Liar," he smirks.

"I'm truthing, not lying."

"Truthing?"

"Yes, truthing. I'm not going unless you tell me why you want me to go."

"I'd just like you to go. Everyone else is going and you've never been to one. I think you'll like them."

"It's just a day thing, right?"

"Yeah it is, but I'll pull a trailer there a day or two before. We usually camp there."

"Who's we?"

"The gang."

"Everyone just camps there for a few nights?"

"Yeah, it's fun," he grins.

"Where do we all stay?"

"We'll have at least two trailers and a tent or two."

"I'll think about going."

"You're going."

"Says who?"

"Me," he gives me a coy grin.

"Then I guess I'll go," I smile at him.

"Good," he says and I hand him Champ's lead rope.

"I'll see you tomorrow."

"You leaving me?"

"I've got a little girl in the house waiting for me and she's already told me she's sick of her bother stealing me from her."

"She's just going to have to learn to share you."

"I don't think she's too keen on sharing," I grin.

"Eventually she's going to have to accept that she needs to share you with me."

"We'll see about that," I smile at him before turning to leave the pasture.

I go into the house and see Molly sitting on the counter while Caroline starts getting dinner ready.

"Trissy!" Molly squeals when she sees me.

"Molly," I say back to her.

"You came back."

"I told you I would."

"I know, but Tobi always takes you away from me and then I never get to see you."

"Tobi?" I ask.

"Tobias," Caroline says, "That's what Four's name actually is."

"Oh so Tobi is short for Tobias."

"Yes."

"And why Four?"

"When Molly was four we'd always ask her how old she was and she'd say three. So Four started telling her she was Four and she'd tell him, 'no you're four.' From then she started calling him Four and then everyone was calling him Four. Occasionally she calls him by his actual name."

"None of his friends call him Tobias."

"I know," Caroline chuckles, "His parents call his Tobias though."

Molly and I help Caroline finish dinner and by the time we're done Four comes in the house. He grabs Molly off of the counter and she wraps her arms around his neck as usual. The two leave and soon after everyone is back in the house for dinner.

A month has passed since I left Chicago and I'm finally starting to feel comfortable in Oregon. I enjoy the friends that I've gained here and I'm starting to really like my time in the pasture with Four.

* * *

_Thanks for all of the reviews everyone! You're all so sweet. _

_I'm trying to write more, really. I just don't have as much time. _

_Are any of you guys feeling like I'm not writing enough? I mean there is no way I can update every single day. But is once a week okay?_


	5. Rodeo

There are trailers everywhere by the time Zeke, Uriah, Caleb and I get to our destination. Zeke pulls his truck up to Will's and puts it in park. We all hop out of the truck and I take a look around. There are numerous trucks and a few horses in the area. While I'm looking around Four's truck pulls up, he parks his ahead of Zeke and Will's. Leaving an area between all of the vehicles.

"Where's your trailer?" Zeke asks his best friend.

"My mother insisted that my dad tow it for me. She's always worried I'm going to wreck it."

"If only she knew how many times we've taken it behind her back."

"Exactly."

"They sleeping out here too?"

"If Molly has her way they will be. She hates being left out of all the fun."

"Your dad take any horses?"

"Yeah, he took Kroner and I think Whiskey."

"Oh he took your horse?"

"He's convinced I'm using him this weekend."

"You gonna do roping?"

"I signed up for it cause that's the reason I'm supposed to be here."

"Calves or steers?"

"Steers," he says looking bored.

"You should just do it, win some extra money."

"I guess."

"They bringing the trailer-"

Zeke gets cut off by the sound of a large diesel truck. The silver truck parks next to his and then an older man gets out. Right behind him is Molly. I assume that he is Four and Molly's father. Her two braids bounce as she runs over to me.

"Trissy," she sing songs.

"Molly," I smile.

"I'm obviously second place here," Zeke crosses his arms over his chest as I pick Molly up.

"You're preaching to the choir," Four chuckles, "Tris is her favorite person."

"So you're this Tris I've been hearing about. Name's Marcus," the man sticks his hand out.

"Guilty," I shake his hand.

"My Molly never seems to stop talking about you," his blue eyes twinkle as he says her name.

"Only good things, I hope," I grin.

"She's never said a bad word about you. But she does talk about how Tobias is always stealing you from her."

"He's always taking you, Trissy," Molly pouts.

"I've just been helping with Champ," I look at her.

"And now you guys are going to all camp here and I can't," her bottom lip quivers.

"Molly you know you've gotta come home with me and Mommy," Marcus smiles at his daughter.

"Can we at least stay for a little bit?"

"Not tonight. Maybe we'll hang out here for a bit tomorrow after the events."

"Please."

"No Molly, maybe tomorrow. We're coming back after lunch tomorrow."

"That's so far away," she whines.

"Boo hoo," Four mimics her and grabs her from me.

"Put me down," Molly demands.

"Nope. Now go with Dad," Four kisses her on the cheek and hands her to their father.

Four unhooks the trailer from his dad's truck and we wave bye to Marcus and an upset Molly. Will eventually comes out of his trailer, Christina at his side. She gives me a hug immediately.

"Who's all staying in what trailers?" Caleb asks.

"I say we just all get drunk and where ever we end up is where we end up," Uriah smirks.

"I like that idea," Will grins.

"Where is Marlene?" Christina asks.

"She's coming with Shauna and Lynn," Uriah answers her.

"Set up camp?" Caleb asks no one in particular, "The sun'll be going down pretty soon."

"Fire pit in-between the trucks?" Four asks as he goes to the bed of his truck.

"Yeah," Zeke grabs the metal fire pit from Four and puts it on the ground in the center.

"Who brought chairs?" Uriah asks.

"Chris and I brought a shit ton," Will says as he goes into his trailer.

We place the chairs in a circle around the soon to be fire. There aren't quite enough for everyone so Four puts the tailgate down of his truck.

By the time the rest of the girls get here we have our camp set up and the sun is still a couple of hours away from setting. Shauna gets out of the car and goes straight to Zeke to give him a kiss. After greeting Zeke she goes to Four, who lifts her into a hug.

Since talking with Christina I've noticed how close Shauna is with Four. The two share a special bond, it's very apparent. He doesn't act like such a hard ass around her.

"I've got to take the horses out for a while before sunset. I don't want them staying in the trailer cooped up until the morning," Four says and leaves.

"So what's the game plan for tonight?" Marlene asks.

"Fire pit, some drinks, dinner. Then we'll see where it goes from there," Uriah smirks at her.

"Sounds like a good plan to me," Lynn smiles, "Especially since I already talked to the girls last week and we made sure to bring dinner. Cause I know everyone here with a penis didn't even think about what we're going to eat tonight."

"So what's for dinner," Will smirks.

"Potato salad, pasta salad, burgers, and some brownies."

"I love girls."

"You're grilling though," Lynn smirks.

"Deal."

"What are we making a deal about?" Four asks as he comes around his truck. Two horses trailing behind him, one much bigger than the other.

"Dinner," Zeke says.

"When are we eating?"

"Hour?"

"Alright. I'm gonna take the horses out."

"Just leading them around camp?"

"I can't ride two horses at once."

"Take Tris with. She's gotta learn how to ride sooner or later, especially if you plan on putting her on Champ."

"Wanna come?" Four looks over at me.

"Uh, sure," I grin.

"You can take Whiskey," he nods towards the brown horse.

I walk over to the horse and listen while Four explains how to get on the horse. He then tells me how to control the horse while I'm riding it. After he explains everything I get my foot in the stirrup and pull myself up into the saddle.

"Like a pro," Uriah smiles at me.

"You good?" Four asks me and I nod. He gives me a small grin before getting on the other horse.

"Will the horse just follow you?" I ask.

"He usually does. He's still pretty young and he's got some weird attachment to Kroner. Never wants to leave his side," Four says as he gets his horse to move forward, sure enough mine goes right to the side and follows along.

"So Kroner is your horse?"

"Yeah, he's the first horse I broke. I was like fourteen."

"Fourteen?"

"I've grown up around horses. It's easy to break them."

"If you say so."

"Try to sit up straighter. Your lower back is arched too much, you'll end up being sore," he says as he watches me.

"Like this?" I sit straight up in the saddle.

"Exactly," he smiles, "You don't need to be so stiff though. Just let your body move along with the horse."

"Okay," I say and try to move along with the horse, but it doesn't come easy.

"Still stiff," he chuckles.

"Hey, I've never done this before."

"I know. And you're doing pretty well for your first time. Except the being a stiff part."

"Shut up," I grin at him.

We go around the camp and we get a few stares from strangers. A few girls give me dirty looks and I furrow my brows in confusion. One guy in particular looks over at Four and rolls his eyes. The guy has slicked back hair and numerous piercings. Once we're out of earshot I whisper, "What's his problem."

"That was Eric," Four smirks, "He seems to be second place every time we compete against each other."

"So you're familiar with him?"

"Very. You run into a lot of familiar faces when you go to rodeos. A lot of the same people compete against each other. Eric is one of the people that is almost always here."

"What do you guys compete in?"

"He does roping. Honestly I don't think he has the balls to get on a bull."

"So you always beat him in roping?"

"Let's just say I've never lost to him."

"Do a lot of people know you around here?"

"I may or may not have a reputation."

"What kind of reputation?"

"One that isn't that great," he laughs.

"Why?"

"I don't like to make friends. I'm pleasant to people for the most part, but if they start being friendly I usually just blow them off. I've got friends and I don't need to make friends with my competitors. I mean I'm friends with Zeke and Will and Uriah. But out of them only Will competes and if he beats me I'm happy for him. He's good at what he does. But I'm content with the friends I have. I don't need more."

"Rather have a few good friends then numerous friends who don't come through for you?"

"Exactly," he says and I turn to see a girl look over at me and then turn her head away from me.

"What is this shit all about?" I mumble.

"Huh?" Four asks.

"I've gotten at least three death stares."

"Was one from that girl?" he grins and nods in the direction of the dark haired girl.

"Yes, how'd you know?"

"That's Melody," he bites his lip in amusement, "I didn't exactly let her down easily."

"She was after you?"

"Yeah. There is something about rodeos, girls love a cowboy," he smirks at me.

"Cocky much?"

"I'm just calling it like I see it. She's probably just butt hurt that I'm out with a pretty girl."

"Did you just call me pretty?"

"Maybe I did."

We get back to the camp and I help him put the horses back into the trailer. Kroner puts his head over Four's shoulder and pulls Four into his neck.

"I'll be back in the morning, you big baby," Four pats the horse's neck.

"Did he just try to hug you?"

"He always does this. He doesn't want me to leave him."

"That's adorable."

"Are you calling me adorable?" Four gives me a shit-eating grin.

"No, I called Kroner adorable," I put my hands on my hips.

I follow Four to the fire pit and we each grab a plate of food. Everyone is sitting on a chair so I hop onto the tailgate of Four's truck. My plate sits in my lap as I eat. Once it gets dark Will and Zeke turn on the headlights of their trucks, keeping our camp lit.

Uriah goes into his brother's truck and turns on the radio as loud as it can go. Country music fills our campsite. It took a while for the music to grow onto me, but after being constantly surrounded with it I can't help but enjoy it. There are a few songs that I really like. It's just easy to listen to.

I swing my legs back and forth to the music and listen absentmindedly. My skin has become a light brown from all of my time in the sun and my blonde hair has gained some highlights.

Christina is perched on Will's lap like always. The two constantly sneaking kisses. Caleb sits next to Lynn the two seem to be in some kind of deep conversation. Marlene is with Shauna, watching as Four, Zeke and Uriah practice roping.

After a while Four stops messing around with the guys and hops onto the tailgate next to me. He plays with the rope in his hands.

"How do you like camping?"

"It's nice."

"Just nice?"

"It'd be better with a beer."

"Lucky you, I got us some beer," he winks at me and stands up to go to the cooler in the bed of his truck.

He grabs two beers and opens both of them with a ring on his right hand. I take one of the beers and grin as I take a swig. Caleb glances over at me and shakes his head before smiling, then he goes back to his conversation with Lynn. Four puts down the whiskey and coke he was nursing so that he can have the beer.

Four and I stay silent and I just take in the smoky air. The moon is still low in the sky, but I swear I can see every star. A familiar tune makes me turn towards Zeke's truck.

"I love this song!" I yell and jump off of the tailgate.

"Don't worry 'bout gettin' fixed up. When you wake up, you're pretty enough. Look out your window at the cloud of dust. That's my headlights, that's my truck," Zeke points to his truck.

"Come here," I grab Four's hand and pull him off of the truck.

"What?" he laughs and puts his beer down.

"I wanna dance," I smile at him and he spins me.

Four puts a hand on the small of my back and I take a hold of his other hand. I follow his lead and can't help but giggle when he spins me into him.

He looks down at me with a grin and I smile back up at him. I wouldn't mind this song never ending. This is the closest I've been to him and my heart begins to race.

"Girl, every now and then you get a night like this," Four sings along and I raise my eyebrows at him.

"You can sing," I say and he spins me away from him.

"This is one that we don't wanna miss, no," he sings along and smirks at me.

I've always found his voice pleasant but hearing him sing gives me goose bumps. It hits me that back in Chicago I never experienced anything like this. No one has ever made me nervous the way he does. I stare up into his dark blue eyes and he smiles at me.

"Me and you girl runnin' outta moonlight. I wanna hold you till the break of dawn," he pulls me into him and I look away so he can't see me blush.

The song ends far too soon and I let go of him. He bites his bottom lip and takes a step back. I grab his hand and look down as we entwine our fingers. He lifts my hand over his shoulder and uses his free hand to pull me into his chest. The air escapes from my lungs at the action. I place my hand on the back of his neck and place my lips against his, I'm not sure why I do it, but I'm relieved when I realize he's kissing me back. I can taste whiskey and for once in my life I enjoy the slightly woody taste.

"Oww ow," Uriah calls and his voice takes me back to reality.

I completely forgot that my friends surround me. And my older brother just saw me kiss a guy. Quickly I let go of Four and turn to look at everyone, my cheeks are on fire.

"Get it girl," Christina gives me a smug look, as to say 'I told you so.'

"Shut up," I laugh.

"Can you two do that again? I missed it," Zeke smirks.

"I'm going to pee," I say and head towards Zeke's trailer.

"Me too," Christina jumps up to follow me.

I get into the trailer and run a hand through my hair. Christina comes in after me and begins to giggle.

"Did that seriously just happen?" she asks.

"I just kissed Four, in front of everyone."

"Was it good?"

"Yeah," I bite my lip, "Really good."

"Well then go back outside and start a round of tonsil hockey."

"You're so gross," I laugh.

We head back outside after using the bathroom. I take my spot back on the tailgate, next to Four. He bumps his shoulder into me and there is an innocent grin on his face.

One by one everyone starts off to sleep. Christina goes back into Will's trailer. Lynn and Caleb also end up in Will's trailer with Uriah and Marlene not too far behind. Zeke stays by the fire with Shauna, the two are wrapped up in kissing.

"Get a room," Four throws a bottle cap at them.

"I could tell you the same thing," Zeke raises an eyebrow.

"Shut up, Zeke," I glare at him before smiling.

"Wanna head in for the night?" Zeke turns to Shauna and she nods.

The two tell us goodnight and head off into Zeke's trailer. At this point I know I'm not going to be sleeping in Will's trailer, it's too crowded. I do have all of my stuff in Zeke's trailer though and there are currently only two people in there. Mentally I make a note to sleep in the trailer that has all of my stuff in it.

Four and I spend another hour outside before I decide to go to bed. I get off the truck and begin walking to the trailer. A rope comes around my body and tightens in an instant. I turn to see Four smirking at me, rope in hand.

"Excuse me?" I grin.

"You're not sleeping in there," he says.

"Oh, I'm not?"

"Nope. You're sleeping in my trailer."

"Says who?"

"The person who currently has you tied up."

"No funny business."

"None," he grins.

"Swear?"

"Cross my heart. You can sleep in the other bed if you want."

"Fine," I smile, "At least let me get something to sleep in out of Zeke's trailer."

"Okay," he grins and I take the rope off of myself.

He comes up behind me and I open the door of the trailer. My stuff is in the back room so I take a few steps inside. Four comes in after me and then we hear it.

"Oh, baby," Shauna softly moans.

I turn to Four as quickly as possible. His eyes are just as wide as mine and he's biting down on his bottom lip to stifle a laugh. Instantly I'm uncomfortable in the trailer.

"Fuck, Shauna," Zeke gasps and my mouth falls open.

Four grabs my hand and pulls me out of the trailer. The door slams behind us and the minute it's closed he erupts into laughter. I stare at him for a moment before I start laughing myself.

"Did we really just walk in on that?" I ask between my laughs.

"Apparently," he tries to catch his breath.

"I'm never going to get that image out of my head," I shake my head.

"I can't say it's the first time I've walked in on them."

"Seriously?"

"They're rabbits. Come on, you can wear one of my shirts."

Four leads me to his trailer and I go in before him. Once I change into a white t-shirt of Four's and crawl into the other bed. I fall asleep within minutes.

I wake up when I feel the bed shift under some weight. After I open my eyes I roll over to see Four laying on his stomach next to me.

"Morning," he voice is raspy.

"Morning," I grin.

"Sleep good?"

"Great."

"Me too," he smiles.

"Was last night real?"

"Which part?"

"All of it."

"We did walk in on Zeke and Shauna. That's real. And that kiss was definitely real."

"Good," I whisper.

"I think we should start up where we left off last night," he moves closer to me, laying an arm over my body.

"Maybe," I smirk and kiss him.

"I got to get ready, Kroner needs to be groomed before our time."

"Need help?"

"Nah, I got it."

"You sure?"

"Positive, you just hang out here. I'll see you after the events tonight, okay?"

"Okay," I smile and he places a quick kiss on my lips.

The day goes by quickly and Christina gets me ready for the rodeo. I wear the black dress that she picked out as well as a pair of red cowboy boots. She wears a short black dress with boots as well. When Marlene comes into the trailer I just laugh, we've all got on black dresses.

We head over and find some seats in the bleachers. Molly spots our group right away and leads her parents over to us. She hops into my lap and introduces me to her mother. Four looks just like his mother, but he's got his father's eyes.

Our group watches and waits for the steer roping to begin. When it finally does Molly jumps up in excitement.

"He's in this one, right?" she turns to her dad.

"Yes Molly," he chuckles and pulls her onto his own lap.

Christina and I watch intently. Waiting for one of the guys to go. Will finally gets in the chute and Christina jumps up to her feet in anticipation.

The steer runs out of it's chute and soon after Will is out of his. His horse right behind the steer. He easily ropes it and the steer falls onto the ground. Will jumps off of his horse; his horse slows down its gallop. Will ties up the Steer then goes back to his horse. The horse moves forward and then a countdown of six seconds begins. The steer stays tied up and Will gets an official time.

Christina jumps up and yells, "Go baby!"

Four is next and I can see him in the Chute on Kroner. He looks more than calm as the Steer is released. He's quicker than Will and does everything gracefully. Molly can't stop screaming as her brother ties up the steer and gets back on Kroner. Four's time ends up being less than Will's, which puts them in first and second.

Evelyn claps as her son takes his horse back. We watch the remaining competitors and then Will ends up coming up into the stands with us. Christina gives him a congratulatory kiss. I look around for Four, but then realize that they're doing bronc riding next. Tonight bronc riding is the last event and tomorrow night bull riding is.

The first guys comes out on a bronc that bucks like crazy. The guy doesn't even last five seconds before being thrown off of the horse. My heart stops when I realize how dangerous this actually is.

"Where's Tobias," Evelyn turns to Marcus.

"Probably putting Kroner back."

"No, where is he? He is stupid enough to get on one of those horses."

"Evelyn, he won't do that. You know he won't."

"Next is Tobias Eaton," the announcer says and Evelyn's eyes look at the chute.

She's frantic as she watches her oldest kid get ready to ride something that can kill him. Molly stands in front of her parents, but she is calm. She keeps her eyes trained on her brother.

"Tobias," Marcus says under his breath and shakes his head.

"Go get him," Evelyn grabs her husband's hand.

"I can't go get him. You know I can't."

"He's going to get hurt," her voice shakes.

"He'll be fine," Molly says, not looking back at her parents, "He's going to win."

"Molly," Evelyn starts but the little girl doesn't pay any attention to her mother.

Christina grabs my hand and gives me a reassuring squeeze. I didn't realize my hands were balled up in fists. The chute opens and a timer starts. This horse bucks more than the last one, but Four stays on it, keeping one hand in the air the whole time. At the end of the eight seconds he gets off of the horse and runs to the fence climbing onto it and grinning like a fool.

I let out a breath I was holding and then I laugh. Molly yells excitedly and Evelyn lets go of Marcus' hand.

"He did it," I turn to Christina.

"I know," she smiles.

A score of 91 is announced and I can see Four jumps off of the fence. Zeke and Uriah high five as the rest of the gang cheers. Marcus stares down at his son and sighs, clearly not happy.

"Is that good?" I ask.

"That's amazing," Zeke yells.

After the event everyone begins filing out of the stands. We head back to camp and the Eatons come with us. Everyone is sitting around and eating by the time Four comes back.

Molly runs over to him right away and he picks her up. He comes over to us, the biggest smile on his face that I've ever seen.

"Tobias," his father says right away.

"I don't want to hear it," Four says.

"You can't be doing something so reckless."

"I don't care what you think. I enjoy it. I want to do it. I want to go pro. I know I can do it."

"What if you get hurt?" Evelyn asks.

"Then I get hurt."

"What if I lose you," her eyes search his.

"You worry too much."

"You better not be riding any bulls tomorrow young man," Marcus says to him.

"Well I guess you'll be surprised if you guys come out tomorrow night."

"Tobias," Evelyn doesn't finish her sentence.

"Good job, Tobi," Molly grins and kisses his cheeks.

"Thank you Molly pop," he smiles at her.

"He did good, huh Mommy?"

"Yes," Evelyn says, dropping the argument.

"We're going to head home," Marcus says.

"But you said I could stay here," Molly whines.

"Sorry honey," Evelyn says and Four puts her back on the ground.

"I'll see you tomorrow, okay?" Four asks Molly,

"I guess."

"Don't give Mommy any grief. I give her enough," Four smirks and pats Molly on the butt to make her move forward, "You gotta go."

Molly goes to her mother and frowns as Evelyn picks her up. The two head off to Marcus' truck, but Marcus stays back for a minute.

"Tobias, you can't keep doing shit like that," Marcus says.

"I'm an adult and I don't want to work on the ranch for the rest of my life. I don't want to just train horses because you want me to."

"Don't you like training horses?"

"I do, but I love riding."

"Your mother worries about you enough without you pulling this kind of crap."

"I'm not some little baby anymore."

"I know," Marcus sighs, "Just don't get hurt, okay?"

"Okay."

Marcus leaves and once he's out of ear shot everyone starts congratulating Four. Zeke claps him on the back and hands him a beer. The two cheers and Four grins.

"I can't believe you pulled that off," Uriah says.

"I wouldn't have gotten that score with a different horse, that's for sure."

"Why?" I ask.

"The horse gets rated too. The more it bucks the better."

"Oh. Well you did awesome," I smile.

"Thanks," he says to me and pulls me into a hug, "You know, you look stunning in that dress."

"Yeah?" I whisper as I step back from the hug.

"Yeah," he grins and gives me an up down before playfully winking at me.

"You're stupid," I laugh.

"Oh well, " he smirks before drinking his beer.

We don't stay up as late as last night, but we spend the majority of the night around the fire talking. Everyone seems to be in an amazing mood. We're all a bit pink from being in the sun all day. I smile as I take in my surroundings.

There is a tiny voice in the back of my mind that keeps saying I've never been in a better place than this. Part of me believes it. I'd never find something like this in Chicago.

* * *

_Alrighty dears, I'm going to be updating every Tuesday. I don't have an exact time I'll be updating but plan on Tuesdays. I may post more than once a week sometimes, but I'm not promising that._

_Hope you all liked this chapter :)_


	6. Next Weekend

Everyone has finished packing up their stuff and we're standing around outside, not wanting to leave this weekend so soon.

"What're we doing next weekend?" Zeke asks.

"I know what I'm doing," Four grins.

"What?"

"Packing up all of my shit and leaving."

"Leaving?" I turn to him.

"Yeah, I'm going to travel around the country, riding. I'm going pro."

"How long are you going to be gone?"

"I have no idea," he smiles and my heart drops.

"You're really gonna do it?" Shauna asks.

"I've been wanting to since I was a kid and I did good here. Why wouldn't I try to go pro?"

"What're your parents going to say?"

"They'll be pissed and want to kill me, but I've got enough money saved up. I can live out of my truck for a few months and if I keep winning I'll be fine. If I go pro I'll make enough to support myself."

"When do you plan on leaving?" Caleb asks.

"This week," he grins.

"You're kidding right?"

"Hell no, I've got to try."

"That's true. You're kind of a natural with it."

"You'll do good," I say and force myself to smile.

"Thanks," he grins at me.

We leave after an hour and before I know it I'm back at the dairy with my brother and the Pedrad boys. I grab my stuff and go to put it away. Once everything is back where it belongs I get on top of my bed and stare at the ceiling.

This weekend had gone better than I planned. I never planned on Four kissing me, but he did and this weekend made me realize that I like him. A lot. I come to the realization that I like a guy and I feel like I have a chance with him, only for him to drop a bomb that he's leaving.

I really believed that we had something. We have been spending time together and he's always flirting with me. At least I thought he was flirting with me.

But then again he told me about how other girls had been trying to get at him. There is a possibility he was just playing me. He could've just wanted someone to hang out with him this weekend. I mean I spent a lot of alone time with him.

I really don't know the guy either and Christina had mentioned that he's never really had a serious relationship. He's never brought a girl around their friends. Maybe that's because he just hangs out with girls on the side, never liking them enough to bring them around his friends.

I sigh; I would put myself in a situation like this. I let myself get feelings for a guy who is friends with the guys I live with. It's pretty convenient for Four when I really think about it.

"Good job Tris," I mumble to myself.

* * *

We pull up to Shauna's house and I swallow hard before getting out of Zeke's truck. This is Four's last night here and we're having a party. I told myself that I'm not going to be alone with him.

I already screwed myself by kissing him and thinking it meant something. I'm not going to let myself be alone with him at all tonight.

We walk into the house and I go straight to Christina. She pulls me into a hug.

"Where have you been all week? I've missed you," she frowns.

"I've been figuring things out."

"What kind of things?"

"Stupid boy things."

"Four?"

"Yeah, him," I roll my eyes.

"Did you know he was leaving?"

"Not at all. He just acts all sweet to me and shit last weekend only to tell us all that he's leaving and he doesn't know for how long. It's pretty much bullshit if you ask me."

"I don't get him."

"Me neither, and I don't want to."

"It makes no sense to me," she sighs.

"You're telling me. Personally I think he's kind of a player. Last week when I went out with him on the horses, there were a few girls giving me dirty looks. He said it was girls he had shot down."

"What if they were girls he's fooled around with?"

"That's what I think. I mean why would a girl be pissed off if the guy never hooked up with her or led her on in the first place?"

"That's so true," Christina crosses her arms over her chest, "I hate dicks."

"Me too," I grin.

"Like I'm totally fine being friends with them, but I couldn't ever date one."

"I'm the same way. If they're not a dick to me then I'm good. So I'm just going to act like nothing happened this weekend. It was just a drunken mistake."

"That's probably the best thing to do, honestly."

"I mean I can still be friends with him. I just can't flirt with him or stuff. That's where things get messy."

"We'll forget about this weekend. You two won't spend anytime alone together and we'll all just be friends again."

"Exactly," I smile, "Now can we get some drinks?"

"You read my mind," she grabs my hand and pulls me through the house.

I avoid Four the whole night up until I go to grab myself a beer from the fridge and see that he's the only other person in the kitchen. I give him a friendly smile as I open the fridge.

"Hey," he grins at me.

"Hi."

"I haven't seen you all night."

"I've been with Christina."

"So this weekend-" he starts.

"Was a mistake, I know," I cut him off. "Drunken weekend, stupid things happened. No harm no foul."

"Oh, uh. Yeah. That's what I wanted to talk about," he rubs the back of his neck.

"It's fine, honestly. I don't want some stupid weekend to ruin the friendship we have. I mean it'd be awkward. Plus I'm Caleb's little sister and practically Zeke's adopted little sister. It's weird. We're cool though, right?"

"Right," he smiles and I grab my beer before leaving the kitchen.

"You talk to him?" Christina asks me.

"Yeah, we're fine. He seemed to want to act like it didn't happen either. It was dumb, the whole thing. I can't believe I thought I liked him."

"I didn't know he was a player."

"He obviously likes to hide it, but whatever. What should I expect out of an eighteen year old good looking boy?"

"And a cowboy none the less."

"What's that have to do with anything?"

"Cowboys are almost always bad news."

"And you decide to tell me this now?"

"They're not all bad. I mean look at Will."

"Yeah, Will is a good one."

"Exactly. I just thought that maybe Four was a good one too."

"Well, now we know that he is just the typical cowboy."

"The kind you keep as friends cause they're a good time, but you feel bad for every girl they bring around," Christina laughs.

"Poor girls that end up with him."

"Oh well," I bring my beer to my lips.

* * *

That summer was the beginning of Four's career and he went pro. His family was upset about it when it happened, but I think they realized they were never going to change him. They accepted that their kid was going to do what he wanted.

When Four left I didn't keep any contact with him. Only the boys really talked to him. Zeke talked to him at least once a week when he first left and eventually that started to dwindle down. The two still talk, but not as much as they used to. Every now and then Four comes up in a conversation and it always sounds like he's doing good.

I haven't seen him since we threw him the going away party at Shauna's house. He has been in the area here and there, but my schedule never lets me end up where he is.

The years passed quick and suddenly I had a place of my own on the Pedrad's property. Sean offered to let me rent the house on the opposite side of the cornfield. I couldn't pass up the offer, low rent and only about a mile and a half from their house. Christina moved in with me immediately.

Caleb moved to Portland for school, so I don't see him as often but I do still get to see him, which is nice. I decided to not go to college, I've never been the school type.

Molly still goes to Caroline's a few times a week. It's been fun watching her grow up into such a funny kid. It's hard to believe that she's already eleven years old. She still talks about her brother like he's the most amazing human being in the world and to her, he is. She's his pride and joy, which was always very apparent. When he's in town she always has to tell me everything about him.

As time went by I realized that I like the boy, but I didn't know him enough to really like him. He's still someone I consider my friend even though we don't talk or see each other. He was one of the first people who made me feel comfortable here in Oregon and for that I will always be grateful.

"Molly, molly, pocket," I sing as I enter Caroline and Sean's.

"Trissypoo," she sings back to me.

"You going riding with me today?"

"Yes," she walks around the corner in her cowboy boots.

"Well get a move on kiddo, cause I've got work tonight."

"I'm ready," she grins and we go out to the barn.

Molly gets Comet saddled and ready to go while I get Champ. I ended up breaking Champ on my own and realized that I have a knack for horses. Sean thinks I should train them, he also thinks I should try to get into barrel racing. I've done a few races and I've trained a few horses, but neither pay enough to support me, so I bartend on top of it. Maybe eventually I'll make enough by just being a trainer.

We get on the horses and start to go around the diary. Molly reminds me a lot of her brother, the two have the same attitude and as she's gotten older she's gotten quieter. She observes people before she decides if she likes them.

These years seemed to pass quickly and through them I've realized that I do really well on my own. Moving from Chicago was something that terrified me and even though I still love the city, I like the country better.

* * *

_So I decided that I want this story to focus more on them when they're older._

_The end of this chapter takes place when Tris is 21. _

_I think I know where I'm going with this. _

_Let me know what you guys think. And do you want me to switch point of views for the rest of the story?_

_I may post another chapter tomorrow morning, depending on the feedback I get on this chapter. _


	7. Belle's

**Tobias**

My heart races as I park outside of my parent's house. It's been months since I've been home and I've missed it.

I still love bronc riding and it pays all of my bills plus some, but sometimes the traveling gets out of control. It's hard to always be on the move, I don't have a place that's just my own. I have my truck and trailer, and the things inside of them.

Cecilia sits next to me, our fingers laced together. Her long dark hair falls into curls down her back and in front of her shoulders. A pair of oversized sunglasses cover her dark brown eyes and her naturally pouty lips are painted red.

"You ready?" I ask her.

"Of course," her voice is high pitched like always.

"Come on," I smile at her and get out of the truck.

She gets out too and grabs my arm as we walk towards my house. Everything looks the same. Kroner is out in the pasture to the left of the house, Whiskey is right next to him. Farther in the pasture is a small figure with a long dark braid down her back, Molly.

"Molly!" I yell and she turns, she smiles instantly, but the smile disappears the minute she sees Cecilia.

"Is that your sister?" Cecilia asks.

"Yes," I grin.

Molly runs through the pasture and climbs over the fence. She hops down and walks over to us. Cecilia lets go of my arm as my sister approaches us. Once Molly is close to me I crouch down to the ground and pick her up. Molly wraps her arms around my neck and holds onto me tightly.

"I didn't know you were coming home," she whispers.

"Surprise," I say and she loosens her grip, leaning back so she can see me.

"Who's that?" she points to Cecilia.

"My name is Cici," Cecilia smiles.

"I'm Molly," my sister states.

"It's nice to finally meet you," Cici smiles.

"Uh, thanks," my sister says as I put her down on the ground.

Molly walks to the house, her braid swinging left then right. She doesn't turn around and goes straight inside. My little sister has never acted this way when I've come home, but I've never brought a girl home.

"She seems…sweet," Cici sighs.

"She'll warm up to you, I promise."

We go into the house and I see my mother in the kitchen next to my sister. When Molly sees us she leaves to her room.

"Hi honey," my mom smiles at me.

"Hi mom," I give her a hug.

"Who is this?"

"This is my girlfriend Cecilia."

"Nice to meet you," my mom sticks her hand out.

"You too, you can call me Cici."

"I'm Evelyn. My husband Marcus is in the living room, I'm sure he'd love to meet you. Come on," my mom leads us to the living room.

"Tobias," my dad says when he sees me.

"Hey."

"A girl?"

"Cici," I smile, "My girlfriend."

"Nice to meet you," my dad says to Cecilia.

"Sit down, make yourself comfortable," my mom says to us and we take a seat on the couch.

"How've you been Tobias?" my dad asks.

"I've been good."

"No injuries?" my mom asks.

"No mom, I've been fine."

"Good," she lets out a sigh.

"Been winning?" my dad looks at me.

"Yeah," I grin.

"So, where did you two meet?" my mom looks over at my girlfriend.

"We actually met in Arizona," Cecilia smiles, "I'm from California and go to ASU. My friends and I decided to go to a rodeo."

"A California girl?"

"Yeah," Cecilia smiles, "But I prefer Arizona."

"Ever been to Oregon?"

"No, this is my first time here actually. Tobias had mentioned that he was heading home and it just happened to fall on my spring break."

"How long are you staying?"

"Just for the week. I'll fly back before school starts again."

"With Tobias always traveling, how do you guys stay in contact?" My dad asks.

"We find time for each other," she smiles.

"How long have you two been dating?"

"About five months."

"That's good. What do you go to ASU for?"

"I'm a theater major," she beams.

"A theater major?"

"I really want to be an actress."

"That's a big goal."

"I know, but I'm prepared to work hard."

"That's good."

"I'm gonna go check on Molly," I say to everyone. "You good here?" I ask Cici.

"Of course," she smiles.

I walk through my house and go towards Molly's room. The door is shut so I knock and hear her say, "Come in." She's sitting on her bed when I come in.

"Hey," I say to her.

"Hi," she smiles at me.

"How come you're cooped up in here?"

"I like it in here."

"I just go home and you rather stay in your room instead of hang out with me?"

"Is she your girlfriend?"

"Cecilia?"

"Yeah, is she your girlfriend?"

"Yes, why?"

"Just wanted to know."

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just tired."

"How come your tired?" I sit down on her bed next to her.

"I was at Caroline's today."

"What'd you do there?"

"Made brownies and rode Comet."

"You rode Comet?" I furrow my brows, when I left five years ago Comet wasn't broken yet.

"Yeah."

"He's broken?"

"Yeah, he's really good actually."

"That's good. Who'd Sean get to break him?"

"Tris broke him," she says matter of factly.

"Tris?" the name feels weird on my tongue.

"Yeah she finished breaking him since you left before it was done. She broke Champ first though."

"She broke Champ?"

"Yeah. Caleb helped her, he read up on how to do it and just walked her through the steps."

"She can ride Champ?"

"She's had him in some small rodeos over the last two years."

"Tris put Champ in rodeos?"

"Yes, she did. Came in third the first time she ever rode him for a barrel race."

"Tris barrel raced?"

"Yeah, you'd know if you came home more."

"Molly, I do come home. I just don't talk to Tris anymore and every time I'm home and hang out with everyone she's working or busy."

"You know, I thought you liked her when she first moved here. You were always taking her from me."

"I do like her Molly. She's a nice girl."

"When I was little I was sure she was going to be your girlfriend."

"Why?"

"Cause I like her."

"You're so dumb," I chuckle and shove her.

"Yeah yeah, now you're dating some princess," Molly rolls her eyes.

"Hey, be nice. You don't know her and last time I saw Tris she was a princess too."

"Tris isn't a princess."

"She was and you liked her."

"Like her, I still like her."

"You still see her a lot?"

"Yeah, every time I go to Caroline's she comes over."

"Come on, let's get you out of your room. Come give Cecilia a chance, I think you'll really like her."

Molly ended up leaving her room to come talk to Cici. The two seemed to get along well, but I can tell my sister still isn't sure about my girlfriend.

Today was the first time I've heard about Tris. Everyone usually doesn't say anything about her when I'm here. They just don't mention her. At first it bugged me, but then I realized it shouldn't bug me. She was the one who said our kiss was a drunken mistake. Her being with me that weekend was a drunken mistake in her mind and at first it hurt. But over time it didn't bug me anymore. She wasn't the girl I thought she was.

Cecilia on the other hand is the opposite of every girl I grew up around. The country is a place she's only heard about and she isn't the type of girl to get down and dirty. When I was younger I thought I wanted a rough and tough girl, but I've realized that I don't. Cici is similar to the Tris that moved here when I was eighteen. The girl who wanted to spend her days shopping. Maybe that's why I took a liking to her. But Cecilia is different from Tris; she's taller and has dark hair, skin and eyes. Physically the two are opposites.

From what it sounds like the two are extremely different now. Cecilia is the kind of girl that wants to be out on the town all night. The way Tris was when she moved here. Now Tris sounds like she's more of a country girl.

* * *

I get a call from Zeke about an hour after being home. He told me to go out to Belle's tonight. A country bar that opened a few years back, but I've never been there before.

I park outside of the bar and see Zeke with Shauna waiting for me. Cici follows me to my friends and I introduce them. I see Shauna size up my girlfriend immediately. I know for a fact that Shauna doesn't like that Cici is wearing high heels and a tight dress, however I think my girlfriend looks hot.

I give Shauna a hug and she knows right away that it's not just a hug to greet her. She sniffles and her arms tighten around me.

"I'm so sorry," I whisper, "How're you?"

"Alright," her voice is brittle.

She lets go of me and wipes her eyes before smiling at me. Not even a year ago Lynn was in an accident. Her car spun out on black ice and hit another car. She was killed on impact. Will was the passenger in the car. He was in a coma for a few days, but he did eventually wake up. Things were starting to look up and then he got an infection. The infection took over his body quickly and he passed away a few weeks after Lynn.

"How've you been?" Zeke asks.

"Pretty good, what about you?"

"Good. You wanna head in?"

"Yeah, you ready?" I turn to Cici.

"Of course," she smiles and grabs my hand.

"Who's here?" I ask Shauna.

"Uriah is inside with Marlene. They should've saved us a spot at the bar."

"What's this bar like?" Cici asks.

"It's got a kind of Coyote Ugly feel," Shauna says, "The bartenders dance on the bar sometimes. There is a mechanical bull in the corner. A huge dance floor for line dancing. Some pool tables, honestly there is a little something for everyone," Shauna says as she walks inside, we all follow her inside.

Right away I hear country music and I notice how packed the bar is. We spot Uriah and Marlene and head over to them. They both greet us and I introduce them to Cici. I look over at the bartenders and recognize Christina immediately. Her hair is longer now and she looks older than I've ever seen here. Losing Will took a toll on her.

"Hey stranger," she smiles at me and leans over the bar to give me a hug.

"Hey," I grin at her.

"Didn't expect to see you here."

"Zeke invited me."

"Glad he did, haven't seen you in years. It's cause you hate me right?"

"Pretty much," I shrug and I feel Cici put her hand on my leg, "Hey this is Cecilia, my girlfriend."

"Nice to meet you," Christina nods at her.

"You too, you can call me Cici, Tobias just insists on introducing me by my name."

"I'm Christina," Christina gives Cici a small smile.

"Tobias has mentioned you before," Cici grins.

"Only good things I'm sure."

"Of course."

"She's lying. I only talk about how much you annoy me," I say.

"Now that sounds more like the Four I know," Christina grins.

"Four?" Cici raises an eyebrow.

"It's his nickname," Christina says.

"Oh, I didn't know that."

"How long have you two dated?"

"A while."

"Hm, then I'm surprised you didn't know that about him," Christina smirks before turning to go to the other side of the bar.

I catch up with all of my friends at the bar top. Zeke and Shauna have been doing great, I hadn't seen them since they got married a year and a half ago. Uriah and Marlene also have been good. I take a look down the bar top and finally feel like I'm home.

A familiar song catches my ear and I'm back to the rodeo when I was eighteen. The last rodeo I did here before I left to go pro. This is the exact song that Tris made me dance with her to. When we danced in the light from Zeke's truck's headlights. The night I kissed her, I frown.

At that time I thought that night was the start of something, something I'd never had before. She proved me wrong though, she was drunk and I guess she didn't feel the same way I did. That weekend was the last time we were really okay with each other. I think that kiss ruined whatever we had going. We had something that felt right and then out of nowhere she tells me it was nothing. When the song ends I shake my head to erase the memories.

The next song starts and Cecilia starts to dance in her bar stool. Uriah starts yelling as well as numerous other people. I take a look around the bar and realize the guys are yelling because some of the female bartenders are walking around with bottles of tequila pouring shots into people's mouths.

_One shot, two shot, three tequila floor,_

_Cowboy bouncer's 'bout to bowl me out the door_

_Jose got me stumblin' mumblin' like a fool_

_That worms got a kick like a Tennessee mule_

_Wake up in the mornin' hurtin' head skinned knees_

_Aint no doubt about what's puttin' a whoopin' on me_

The bartenders sing along to the song as they pour the shots. Christina dances behind the bar as she gets more beers for people.

"Do they do this every night?" I ask Zeke.

"Hell yeah, free tequila poured by pretty girls."

"I like this song," Cici smiles at me.

"Me too," I grin at her. We look around the bar and watch a few bartenders pour some more tequila.

"That one is pretty," Cici points at a girl who has her back to us.

"I can't tell," I say to her.

"Wait for her to turn around."

"Are you telling me to check out a girl?" I smirk at her.

"No, I'm just saying she's pretty."

_Tequila goes down easy, lord it will sneak up on you fast_

_Tequila great big buzz in a lil bitty glass_

_Tequila glass, salt, straight up, chilled, lemon lime_

_Blue on the rocks, frozen margarita time_

_Mexicali, blue agave, fire in the bottle_

_Too much cabo wabo do the cucha racha wobble_

_You think by now a drinkin' man would learn_

_You don't go toe to toe with that lil bitty worm_

"There she is," Cici points to the girl as she grabs Uriah's head and pulls it back,

"She's cute huh?"

"I can't see her face."

"Get it Uri!" Christina yells.

Uriah takes the shot then grabs the bottle from the bartender. The bartender throws her head back and opens her mouth. I take a good look at her; she's wearing a black tank top that reads Jack Daniel's. Her shorts are daisy dukes and she has a pair of red cowboy boots on. Uriah pours the shot into her mouth and she takes it without even grimacing. She grabs the bottle back from him and he gives her a hug.

"TEQUILA!" the whole bar yells right when the song is about to finish.

Christina grabs the bottle of tequila from the blonde bartender next to Uriah. The blonde jumps up onto the bar top and begins walking across it. Her hair is short and blonde and there is a tattoo on her collarbone. She glances in my direction and I hold my breath when I see the blue eyes.

"She's pretty right?" Cici says.

"Yeah," I answer as Tris hops off the bar and goes over to Christina.

"She's so tiny and adorable."

"Mhm."

Tris walks over to us and puts down a shot glass; she grabs a bottle of Johnny Walker black label and pours the shot. She pushes the shot towards me.

"Long time no see," she says.

"Yeah, how'd you know Johnny is my favorite?"

"I remember things."

"I thought you said you've never been here before," Cici says.

"I haven't."

"How do you know the barten-"

"We're old friends," Tris cuts her off, "I'm Tris by the way."

"I'm Cici, nice to meet you. I was just telling Tobias how pretty you are."

"Thanks," Tris smiles, "Well you two have fun tonight. I'll get ya whatever you need."

"How much for the Johnny?" I ask.

"It's on the house," she says and walks away.

"How do you know her?" Cici asks.

"Met her when I was eighteen. She lives with Zeke's parents."

"Oh, the girl from Chicago?"

"Yeah."

"You never told me that she's stunning."

"I guess I forgot," I say.

Tris was always attractive. But seeing her now she's not just some cute sixteen-year-old girl anymore. She's a gorgeous woman. I make sure not to stare in Tris' direction. I have a beautiful girlfriend, I don't need to compare the differences in Tris right now, or ever.

"You didn't tell me Tris works here," I say to Zeke.

"Must've slipped my mind. Her and Christina started here when it opened."

"She looks different, huh?" Shauna says.

"Yeah, really different."

"She's grown up in the last five years."

"Wanna dance?" Cici asks.

"Sure. Do you know how to line dance?"

"Nope, teach me?" she hops off of her stool and grabs my hand.

She leads me to the dance floor and I show her how to two-step. It takes her a while to figure it out and by the time she has it, it's not on beat. Cici laughs every time I spin her. We dance for a few songs and then another song comes on. Everyone dancing stops and looks over to the bar as a few bartenders climb up onto the bar, Tris and Christina included.

_Love is like a bomb, baby_, _c'mon get it on_

_Livin' like a lover with a radar phone_

_Lookin' like a tramp, like a video vamp_

Cici stares at the girls as they dance on the bar. Tris and Christina seem to have a lot of the attention. The two dance perfectly in sync and every time they look at each other they laugh. Cici pulls me back to the stools we were sitting on.

"Get it Tris!" Marlene yells as Tris moves her hips in a slow circle.

"Pour some sugar one me! In the name of love!" Uriah and Shauna yell at the same time.

Once the song ends the girls hop off bar and Tris walks over to Cici and I. She gives me a small smile and then looks at Cici.

"Can I get you anything?" Tris asks.

"Just teach me how to dance like that," Cici says.

"If you wanna dance don't ask me how to," Tris laughs, "Christina is the pro here."

"You're really good though!" Cici grins.

"Well, thank you. You two still doing good?"

"Yeah we are," I say.

"Just let me know if you need anything."

"We will."

She nods and walks away from us. I look over at Cici; she seems to be enjoying herself. I grab her shoulders and pull her into me. She kisses me on the cheek and I grin at her.

* * *

_So I decided to do Tobias' point of view. I hope you guys liked it._

_And oh my goodness! The last chapter got over twenty reviews! You guys are seriously awesome. _

_I'm not sure if you guys are curious about the songs I have in here or not, but if you are here are the names of them._

_The one that reminds Tobias of Tris is Runnin' Outta Moonlight by Randy Houser_

_The song that is playing when the girls are pouring shots of tequila is Tequila by Brooks and Dunn_

_The last song that Tris and Christina dance to is Pour Some Sugar on Me by Def Leppard_

_And lastly this story will be Fourtris_


	8. Family Dinner

**TRIS**

I walk outside of the bar with Christina at my side. We go over to my Tahoe and she gets into the passenger side. A sigh escapes from my lips as I turn the key in the ignition. Eminem comes through the speakers and Christina turns the music down.

"Long night, huh Mickey?" I say to her.

"Good money night though," she grins.

"I'm beat. You're driving tomorrow night."

"We don't work tomorrow night."

"We don't?"

"No, it's Sunday night. Minnie are your days all mixed up?"

"I forgot. We can sleep in tomorrow and hang out and be lazy."

"I'm gonna pee my pants I'm so excited," Christina giggles.

"Not in the car, you know I hate cleaning up after you."

"I forgot to wear my diaper tonight, so if it happens it happens."

"You're disgusting," I laugh.

"I try," she smirks.

"You succeed."

"So…"

"What?"

"Four?"

"What about him?"

"It wasn't weird to see him?"

"Not really."

"Come on, you literally haven't seen him in years. It wasn't a little weird?"

"I would've ended up seeing him at Zeke's wedding if I ended up going, but no one wants a puking guest at their wedding. It's not like I've been trying to avoid him. Things jus always happen when we're supposed to be in the same place at the same time."

"What about the girl?"

"What girl?"

"His girlfriend."

"He has a girlfriend, Chris. It doesn't bug me. Why should it?"

"I don't know. I feel like it'd bug me."

"We kissed one night when we were drunk. And we were just kids. We're adults now. There isn't anything awkward about this situation."

"If you say so."

"Why if I say so?"

"Cause. We going to Zeke and Shauna's tomorrow night?"

"It's family dinner. Of course we're going."

"Good. Bikes or car?"

"I haven't taken my bike out for a while."

"Both of our bikes have just been sitting in the garage. It's pretty sad."

"It really is."

"Let's just take the bikes."

"We shall take the bikes," I say as I pull into the driveway of our house.

Christina gets out and goes to unlock the door, I follow her into the house. She goes straight to the bathroom to get ready for bed. When I hear her get out I go to brush my teeth next. Once I get to my bed I fall asleep immediately.

I wake up in the morning to the sound of sniffling. It's only eight in the morning. Slowly I get out of bed and stretch before walking to Christina's room. I open the door and see her sitting up against the headboard of her bed. Her eyes are red and puffy. She looks up at me and I feel my heartbreak. It's been a few months since she's sat down and cried like this, but with the one-year mark coming up I knew it was bound to happen.

"Move over," I say and she scoots over in the bed. I get in her bed and pull her into me. She wraps her arms around me and starts to cry harder. Her body shakes with the sobs and I feel helpless. There isn't anything I can say or do to make her feel better.

"I miss him," she chokes out.

"I know," I feel tears prick at my own eyes, "I know you do."

"Why'd it have to happen?"

"I wish I could give you an answer, but I can't."

"Sometimes I feel like it'll never stop hurting. The hole inside of me is always going to feel raw."

"I know for a fact that it'll never stop hurting. You're always gonna miss him and it's gonna suck. But you can't let it stop you from being happy. He wanted the world for you."

"I know," she whispers.

"He was your first love and he always will be. Nothing is going to change that."

We sit in silence and after a few minutes I can feel Christina's body relax against me. She slows her sniffling and scoots down in the bed so she is laying. Her head against my stomach and her arms still wrapped around my waist. I keep one arm around her shoulders. With my other hand I play with her hair, knowing it calms her down.

"Wanna know something?" she asks.

"Of course."

"When I first saw you with Four I thought he had found his match. Sure we were just a bunch of kids, but I really thought you were it for him."

"Why?"

"You have this air about you, you just made him happier. His attitude was always so much lighter when you were around. I've known him for years, I went to high school with him and he was the asshole guy that girls wanted. Well, they wanted him until they realized he really is just a dick. It took me years to even consider him a friend, he's just hard to handle. Once he accepted me as a friend I was fine with him, I started to see that he wasn't just an asshole. He just keeps to himself. Then you came here, he was never a hard ass around you. It was like he thought of you as a friend immediately. Then I was positive he liked you."

"He's a cowboy, Chris, we both know they're bad news."

"Not all of them are."

"Will was an exception," I smile.

"Yeah he was."

"Try to get some more sleep, we've got a family dinner to attend tonight."

"Okay," she sighs.

Around four in the afternoon Christina and I finish getting ready to go to Zeke's. Him and Shauna live on Sean and Caroline's property as well, Sean has a few different houses that people rent from him. I follow Christina to the garage and we each put on some riding boots and a helmet. She goes over to her red dirt bike and I go to my black one. We walk them outside and shut the garage door before starting them up.

I follow Christina through the different fields, taking shortcuts to Zeke's. When the house is finally in view I see all the different trucks outside. Everyone is outside; they almost all have a drink in their hand. Christina pulls up next to Shauna and parks. I go up next to her and cut my engine.

"How nice of you two to show up," Uriah grins and I give him the middle finger.

"We worked all night douche," Christina says after pulling her helmet off.

"Yeah, what'd your lazy ass do?" I ask as I take my helmet off.

"I got drunk," he smirks.

"Thanks to us," I wink at him and then put my helmet on the porch. Christina puts hers next to mine.

"What's for dinner?" Christina asks as she pulls a beer out of a cooler and tosses me one, she then grabs one for herself.

"Burgers," Zeke answers.

"You grilling?" I ask as I open my beer with a ring on my right hand.

"Yes."

"Good, last time Uriah tried to burn down the house."

"I thought we weren't ever going to talk about that again," Uriah glares at me.

"Whoops, I guess I forgot," I grin.

"Hate you."

"Love me."

"Nice to see you again, Cici," Christina says and I look over at Four and his girlfriend. She's in a pair of wedges and looks completely out of place.

"You too," Cici says with a bright smile. The girl is pretty, no doubt about it, but she looks out of place here in Oregon.

"Learn how to backflip yet," Zeke smirks at me.

"Cute. I'm not going to kill myself trying to backflip on a dirt bike. I can outride Uriah, so I think I've accomplished enough," I grin.

"You can not outride me," Uriah says.

"Wanna race?" I raise an eyebrow.

"No, I have no gear."

"Baby," I grin.

"We all know Tris can outride you, babe," Marlene kisses Uriah on the cheek.

"That's not true," Uriah whines.

"I can outride you on a bike and a horse," I smirk.

"I don't ride horses," he crosses his arms.

"You do, just not well."

"I heard you've done some rodeo," Four says to me.

"Where'd you hear that?" I turn to look at him.

"Molly."

"Yeah, I've done a few, but I'm sure she exaggerated about it. I'm not as good as she thinks I am."

"That buckle on your belt says different," he points at my belt. I look down at the large buckle; it was the first prize I'd ever won on Champ. I wear it with pretty much everything.

"You win belt buckles?" Cici asks.

"Sometimes. Other rodeos you can win saddles and stuff. Of course there is some money in it too, but I'm not really in the big leagues like you're boyfriend."

"He's crazy," Cici looks at Four, "I'm always worried he's gonna get hurt."

"Nah, he knows what he's doing," I say.

"I like to think I do," Four says.

"You going to Sean and Caroline's at all?" I ask him.

"I'm bringing Molly there tomorrow actually."

"Oh, nice. I forgot Molly is going there tomorrow."

"Yeah, spring break."

"Caroline had mentioned that she'd have Molly a few days this week. Guess it means I'm gonna have to take Champ out a few extra days this week."

"How is Champ?"

"Awesome. Best horse over there."

"Never thought I'd hear that."

"Well you wouldn't if I hadn't broken him," I say and shrug a shoulder. I didn't realize there is still a part of me that is upset about Four leaving so abruptly, but being around him has made it resurface. He was supposed to help me break Champ, he had asked me for my help then out of the blue he decides to leave everything. I look him over once, he is older that's for sure. My eyes meet his for a second and I swear he's looking at me like he did when we were kids. I turn around and go into the house.

I hear footsteps behind me and turn around to see Christina. She has her arms crossed over her chest and I sigh, knowing she's going to ask about my semi-rude remark.

"I thought you were cool with him."

"I am."

"It doesn't look like it."

"I am."

"Tris."

"What?"

"What's up?"

"Nothing."

"I'm not stupid, spill."

"Seriously I'm cool with him. I'm just a little pissed that he didn't break the horses like he said he would. I was supposed to help him with Champ, but I ended up doing it on my own."

"You sure it's just about the horses?"

"Positive. He's just a dick that left things unfinished."

"Yeah he did. Now come back outside."

"Okay," I say and she grabs my hand.

We go back outside with everyone and Zeke starts barbequing. I take a seat next to Christina and listen to the conversations around me. About a half an hour passes and I get up to help Shauna in the house. She gets everything out of the fridge and we start bringing it to the table set up outside. Dash follows us in and out of the house, hoping we'll drop something for him to eat.

"Hey fatties, get some food," Zeke says as he puts a plate of burgers on the table. Everyone sits down and starts filling their plates. Dash takes a seat next to Uriah since Uriah always gives him scraps.

"To the family I got to choose, except Zeke. I got stuck with him," Uriah raises his beer in the air to cheers. We all clink out bottles together before we start eating.

"You gonna move back home yet?" Shauna asks Four.

"I don't think so. I'm here for a few months though."

"Really? You never stay that long," she smiles.

"Yeah, I need a break and honestly I'm tired of getting beat up by broncs all the time and the occasional bull."

"You staying here too?" Shauna asks Cici.

"No, I got home in a little less than a week. I'm just here for spring break."

"Oh that's cool."

"Yeah."

"Hey, Minnie, is your brother on spring break?" Christina looks over at me.

"I think so. We may get Blair a night or two this week," I say.

"Yay, I love my Blairbear."

"Mickey, you more than love her," I laugh.

"Mickey?" Four furrows his brows.

"Christina started calling Tris Minnie cause she's so small and Tris decided that Christina was Mickey then," Marlene answers.

"Oh, I was confused."

"Yeah, they started doing that a few years back."

"And Blair is Caleb's daughter. He and his girlfriend Susan had her about eight months ago."

"Caleb has a baby?" Four looks at me.

"Yeah, we were all pretty shocked when he told us about Susan being pregnant. But they're happy," I say.

Everyone finishes eating and the guys continue to drink. Christina and I stop when we start to feel a buzz. Neither of us feel like crashing here for the night and there is no way we can drive back home drunk. We decide to leave after midnight because by then we'll be sober again. Cici starts to fall asleep at the table and Shauna shows her to the guest room so she can sleep until Four decides to go home.

At some point in the night Four ends up sitting next to me. Zeke makes more burgers because the guys decide they're hungry again. Four grabs a plate and starts putting food on it.

"Can you pass me the ketchup?" he asks me.

"Yeah," I say and grab the open bottle. When he goes to grab it from me I squeeze it and ketchup goes all over his hand.

"Tris," he laughs.

"What?" I ask innocently, still slightly buzzed.

"You spilled it everywhere."

"Dash," I call and the dog walks over to us. I point to the table and the dog jumps up to lap up the excess ketchup.

"He's sleeping outside tonight," Shauna says, "He's going to fart all night after all the food he's been eating."

"Poor Dash, mom is kicking you out of the house," Zeke pats the dog.

"Will you get me a napkin," Four asks me.

"Yeah," I turn to grab a napkin. When I turn back around to hand it to him I'm met with ketchup all over my shirt and he gives me a devilish grin. He grabs the bottle of ketchup and jumps up from the table.

"Here," Marlene laughs and hands me a bottle of mustard.

"You're gonna pay for that Eaton," I say as I untwist the top of the mustard bottle.

"Liar," he grins and runs away from me. I chase after him and when I think I'm about to get him he grabs me.

"Let go," I laugh and he puts ketchup on my head.

"Truce?" he laughs.

"No," I squeal and try to get mustard on him.

"Get him Tris!" Christina giggles.

"I'm trying," I try to get out of his grasp and finally get mustard on him.

"Truce?" I ask. Four lets go of me and looks me over, I'm covered in mustard and ketchup and so is he.

"Fine," he grins and grabs the mustard from me. Then he gets mustard in my hair.

"You said truce!" I try to cover my hair with my hand.

"I forgot," he laughs and then stops.

"Want some clothes to change into?" Shauna asks me from the table.

"Please."

"I'll put them in the bathroom for you."

"Thanks," I say and try to wipe off as much as I can before I go into the house. Four does the same and he follows me inside. I go into the bathroom and he shuts the door behind us.

"You're an ass," I grin as I look at myself in the mirror; my blonde hair is red and yellow.

"You started it," he chuckles.

"You attacked me."

"You got ketchup on me first," he smiles and I stop to look at him, "Can we talk?"

"We are."

"I know. I mean, I don't know, Tris. Why did we stop being friends?"

"We didn't stop. We just haven't seen each other."

"We aren't friends and you know it. What happened?"

"You left. People grow apart."

"I left but that doesn't mean we had to stop being friends."

"We were kids and you left on a bad note. What happened at the rodeo, that just fucked up our friendship."

"It fucked up more than just our friendship."

"No it didn't. We were only friends."

"You really believe that? That we were just friends?"

"Four," I sigh.

"What? You're the one who told me it was a drunken mistake. I didn't think it was a mistake back then. I mean I do now because we stopped being friends completely. But at that moment, I didn't think it was a mistake. I thought it was something good."

"It was a drunken mistake. What kind of guy kisses his friend and flirts with her only to drop a bomb that he's leaving and he doesn't know when he'll be back?"

"I had to leave."

"I know, but you didn't have to lead me on before you left."

"I wasn't leading you on."

"Oh really?"

"Yes, really."

"Four, you were flirting with me for weeks and then you kiss me and it was perfect and then you leave. You never brought a girl around your friends, but somehow there were girls after you. Honestly I wouldn't be surprised if you were a player when you were a kid. Girls wanting you and you just turned them down all the time, yeah right. You were and eighteen-year-old kid and you had girls after you. What kid wouldn't jump on that?"

"You think I was playing you?"

"You were, be honest," I cross my arms over my chest.

"I wasn't. I've never played a girl in my life. I would never do that. Sure there were a couple of girls after me, but I never did anything with them. I didn't want to. I never wanted something fake. I grew up in a household with parents who are together because they have kids and they don't know how to be without each other. They didn't get together because they loved each other; they got together because my mom got pregnant. Sure they love each other now, but they've never been in love with each other. They've never been truly happy with each other. I told myself I'd never do that. I would never do anything with a girl if I wasn't interested. I won't even lead a girl on."

"I didn't know that's why your parents got married."

"Not many people do. I was just a big oops and they thought getting married was the way to fix it," he shrugs.

"Why did you lead me on and leave?"

"I never led you on, Tris. I was interested in you, I wanted you. But then you told me it was all a mistake. I felt like I had been played."

"You were leaving."

"So I could do what I dreamed about doing. I thought we'd keep in contact and I'd come to see you. I never planned on just leaving you high and dry. Then you told me you felt nothing."

"I was upset."

"So was I."

"It was a big misunderstanding, huh?"

"Yeah, sounds like it."

"I'm sorry. I overreacted, but I mean I was just a kid."

"So was I."

"You were really interested in me?"

"Of course, how couldn't I be?"

"Maybe we were never meant to be. What if we're just supposed to be friends?"

"Who knows. But I'm with Cici now."

"I know you are, I'm not saying I want you Four. I'm happy you found a girl that makes you happy."

"Yeah."

"We're cool, right? Like we're actually good."

"Yes."

"Friends?"

"Friends," he smiles at me.

"Now help me get this crap out of my hair," I laugh.

"Alright," he chuckles and starts to get ketchup and mustard out of my hair, "You dating anyone?"

"No, the majority of boys around here are bad news. Especially the ones I meet at the bar."

"Yeah, I wouldn't go after a bar fly."

"Exactly and cowboys aren't much better."

"Hey, we're not all bad."

"Most of you are."

"Maybe."

"I missed you. I didn't realize it, but I did. When I moved here you were the first person I actually felt comfortable around."

"I missed you too. Everything is just easy with you."

"I know what you mean."

We both get cleaned up and go back outside with our friends. I can't help but feel relieved. The past is behind Four and I and I really did miss being his friend. I'm happy he's happy with Cici and she seems to be a pretty nice girl. Christina gives me a smile when I sit down across from her.

"What happened?" she mouths to me.

"I'll tell you when we get home," I mouth back to her and she nods.

* * *

_So they're friends again and they realize everything was just a misunderstanding. Hope you guys liked it :)_

_P.S. all your reviews make my day!_


	9. Get Dirty

I get up from my bed to get the front door. Caleb is standing outside waiting for me, Blair in his arms. The brunette haired infant giggles when she sees me at the door.

"I thought you weren't bringing her over until tomorrow," I take the baby from my brother.

"Susan and I decided we wanted an extra day to ourselves and we knew you wouldn't mind," he winks.

"You're lucky I like you."

"You love me."

"Not really. I just keep you around cause I love her," I kiss Blair on the cheek.

"We'll be back in three days, is that okay?"

"Sure."

"I'm going to get the rest of her stuff out of the car. Susan made sure I brought everything, even though I told her you have some baby stuff here."

"She's just being a prepared mommy."

"Yeah," he grins, "Be right back."

I go into the living room and set Blair down on the floor, she instantly grabs her feet. She's always been a happy baby and can entertain herself for hours at a time. Christina walks into the living room with a yawn.

"Morning," I say as I get onto the couch.

"Blair," Christina raises her voice making my niece laugh.

"Wow, way to ignore that I said good morning to you…we get her an extra day."

"Don't be sensitive. You won't hear me complaining about her."

"You're going to complain when I tell you what we're doing today, well what we were supposed to do today."

"What?"

"Everyone wants to go mudding this afternoon."

"Really?" Christina whines.

"Yes, and now we have a baby to care for."

"We should take the baby with."

"We can't go off in the Tahoe with a baby in the back seat."

"I'm sure Shauna or Marlene won't mind watching her. They love her."

"I do want to go mudding."

"Exactly. So we'll pack up some of Blair's things and head out when everyone is there. I mean it's not like we're in the mud the whole time. More than half of the time we're just hanging out in the bed of a truck. Blair can just hang out with us."

"I like the way you think, Mickey."

"Of course you do," she smirks and we both turn when the front door opens. Caleb walks into the house and starts putting Blair's stuff on the floor.

"See you in a few days, Beatrice. Good morning Christina."

"Morning."

"Just give me a heads up when you're on your way to pick her up," I say.

"I will. Bye sweetheart," Caleb gets on the floor to kiss Blair.

"Bye loser," I yell as Caleb walks out of the house.

"So what is on the agenda before we go get the Tahoe dirty?"

"I told Molly I'd go riding with her, but I can't go riding with a baby."

"Just go to Caroline's and tell Molly, I'm sure she'll understand."

"Yeah. I'll head there after I shower. I'll take Blair with me so you can get ready. Sound good?"

"Good to me."

I pat Blair on the head as I walk to the bathroom. Once I'm in the bathroom I turn the water on and wait for it to warm up. By the time the mirror starts to fog up I'm in the shower, my hair full of suds.

Last night seems to replay in my head as I rinse my hair. I never did try to avoid Four, things just always came up and I never ran into him. I've never been a fan of tension or conflict and knowing there isn't either of those between us is a weight off of my shoulder that I wasn't aware I had.

When I was sixteen everyone seemed to try their hardest to make me feel comfortable here. Uriah and Zeke went out of their way to get me involved with their social lives. All of the girls were extremely nice to me. I know that I was a little hard to handle back then. I had just lost my parents and was dealing with adapting to a completely different lifestyle. At times it felt like people would walk on eggshells when they were near me.

Now no one acts like that now. Everyone knows me and understands my personality. It took a while for everyone to actually get comfortable around me. But Four never seemed to be uncomfortable around me. Everything we did together was easy and natural. I missed having a friend like that and I didn't even realize I was missing it.

Christina has become like a sister to me and we know each other like the back of our hands. But it took us a while to get to that point in our friendship. Four just seemed to get to that point in our friendship almost immediately.

I finish showering and change into a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt. Before I leave the bathroom I put my hair in a tiny ponytail. Christina is laying on the floor next to Blair when I get into the living room.

"I'm going to head out and I should be back in about two hours or so."

"Okay, have fun with Molly."

"See you in a bit," I say as she gets up from her spot and heads towards the bathroom. "Come on punkin," I pick Blair up and go to put her in her car seat. She cooperates with me and I carry the car seat to my Tahoe. I like having my car lifted, but it's always a hassle to get Blair into it.

I park outside of the Pedrad house and Sheeba runs to the gate to greet me. Next to my car is Four's truck and I look through the window of the house to see him and Molly in the kitchen with Sean and Caroline. I get Blair out of the car and perch her on my hip. Sheeba backs up so I can open the gate and she follows me up the deck and to the front door.

"Trissy," Molly says when I come into the house, "And Blair!"

"Wave hello to Molly," I tell Blair and she sticks her hand out and moves it in every direction while kicking me in excitement.

"I thought you didn't get Blair till tomorrow," Caroline says.

"Yeah. So did I, Caleb decided to surprise me though." Blair leans towards Molly with her arms outstretched, "I know you wanna see your favorite person ever," I hand the baby to Molly.

"Did you miss me?" Molly beams at the baby and Blair giggles in response.

"Hey," I say to Four.

"How're you?"

"No longer smelling like ketchup, so pretty good," I state and he smirks, "Where's Cici?"

"She's at my house, she's a little under the weather."

"I believe the word you're looking for is hung-over," I grin.

"She was throwing up all morning," Molly says not taking her attention away from Blair.

"Did she mix drinks?" I ask Four and he shrugs.

"I honestly wasn't paying too much attention."

"Such a doting boyfriend."

"I try."

"Blair wanna say hi to Four?" Molly walks over to her brother and Blair looks up at him. She leans towards him and sticks her arms out. "You want to leave me for him? You don't even know him. Stranger danger," Molly tells the baby and I laugh; Blair keeps her arms extended to Four.

"Hi peanut," Four takes my niece from his sister. Blair leans into him and keeps a hand on his chest.

"Girls just take an instant liking to you, don't they?" Sean grins.

"It's my charming personality," Four's lips curve up.

"Ha," Molly puts her hands on her hips.

"You disagree?" Four raises an eyebrow.

"You're not charming."

"Yet somehow your baby best friend wanted me and she doesn't even know me."

"She is confused about the people she can and can't trust."

"Oh that's what it is?"

"Duh," Molly pulls a face, "You're just a friend stealer."

"Friend stealer?"

"Yeah, first Tris now Blair," she glares at him.

"He likes taking Prior girls from you," Caroline smiles.

"He really does," Molly huffs.

"You know, she kind of looks like you," Four glances at me then looks back at Blair.

"Yeah, I've gotten asked a few times if she's mine," I roll my eyes.

"You've got to see what Tris has done with those horses," Sean says.

"I've heard she's broken a few."

"More like broken all of them."

"Really?" Four looks over at me and I shrug.

"Every single one of those horses can be ridden now."

"Champ is the best though, you've got to see him and Tris in a barrel race," Caroline says.

"Come see them," Molly says to her brother slides open the glass door to put her boots on.

We go outside and follow her to the barn. Four walks next to me, Blair still in his arm. Molly walks in front of us and goes to the gate of the pasture. She opens up the gate and we follow her into the pasture. Immediately Comet comes over to her and she pats him on the shoulder. Champ comes over to us next and he stands in front of me.

"Hey buddy," I pat him on the neck and he whinnies which makes Blair giggle. The horse goes to Blair and Four, Blair sticks her hands out and the horse touches them with his nose.

"Just walks up to anyone?" Four looks at me.

"Yeah, he's really trusting."

"He trusted you from day one though."

"I don't know why."

"Who knows, it was just his decision."

"You should see him run," Molly says, "He's the fastest horse I've ever seen. Faster than Kroner."

"No way is he faster than Kroner," Four pulls up his nose and I smirk. The two of them make the same facial expressions.

"You should race Tris, she'd win. Champ is ridiculously fast."

"When's the last time you saw Kroner race?"

"When you did a rodeo here and did roping is the last time I saw him running."

"That was about two years ago, I think you've forgotten how fast my horse is."

"I think you need to see Tris ride Champ and then you'll realize that Kroner isn't as fast as him."

"Champ is pretty fast," I shrug.

"You want to bet that your horse is faster than mine?"

"What're we betting?"

"Loser buys the winner drinks the next time everyone goes out."

"Sounds like a good bet to me. You're going to wish you never took this bet Eaton."

"We'll see about that."

* * *

Christina and I pull up to the large wet field and I'm already itching to cover my white Tahoe in mud. We get out of the car and Christina goes to get Blair out of her car seat. Zeke and Uriah are standing beside the tailgate of Zeke's truck; Marlene and Shauna are perched on the tailgate. Four and Cici are sitting next to each other on Four's truck. I take a look around and recognize a few other trucks here, one is Matthew's and Edward's is next to his. Myra is standing next to Edward, a toothy grin on her face. Everyone seems to be watching the lifted navy blue truck currently driving through the mud puddles.

"Who's out there?" I ask.

"Drew and Peter," Matthew says.

"Drew's truck looks nice."

"You're telling me," he says and I walk over to him. Matthew pulls me into a hug and lifts me up, "How you been?"

"Pretty good, I've been making a shit ton of money at Belle's."

"I already know that," he winks.

"Have you met Four and Cici?" Christina asks Matthew.

"I actually have not."

"Four, Cici, come here." The couple walks over and Christina introduces them, "This is Matthew. Matthew this is Four and his girlfriend Cici."

"Nice to meet you," Matthew says, his arm still resting on top of my shoulders.

"You too," Four says.

"Matthew is one of the managers at Belle's, Edward is his buddy and Myra is Edward's girlfriend."

"We took a liking to Matthew. He gives us good schedules," I grin.

"You're not supposed to tell anyone I favor you and Christina!"

"Oh, everyone knows about it."

"Liar."

"I'm no liar."

Drew pulls his truck up next to Edward's and he and Peter hop out, laughing like fools. Everyone says hello to each other before breaking off into smaller conversations.

"Who's coming with me?" I ask and point to my Tahoe.

"I'm for sure going with you," Matthew says.

"I'm getting shot gun," Christina smirks at him. "Here," she hands Blair to Shauna and runs to my car. Matthew runs after her and gets into the back seat.

"They're already in my car and I'm the one driving and not even near it," I shake my head.

"Typical," Marlene grins.

"Wanna come Cici?" I turn to her.

"Um, no thanks. It's not really my thing."

"You're loss," I shrug and run over to the Tahoe.

I turn on the car and slowly pull forward. I make sure to not be near Zeke and Shauna before I gun it. The back tires spray mud all over the rest of the group and I swear I can hear Cici scream before I speed off into the field.

"You're such a dick," Matthew grabs his sides in laughter.

"I just wanted to spray them a little bit."

"Drew is covered," he says as he looks out the window.

"Cici is probably going to hate you now," Christina grins.

"She came mudding, she should've expected to get a little dirty."

"Come on, she's in some overly expensive riding boots, she didn't plan on getting muddy."

"Whoops?"

"That Cici chick seems a bit prissy," Matthew says as he leans forward in-between Christina's seats and mine.

"We haven't spent too much time around her," Christina turns around to face him.

"Just from the half an hour I've been around her I can tell she isn't from here."

"She is from Arizona, originally California."

"Oh, she's a city girl. Now I get it."

"Hey, I'm originally a city girl," I glare at him before looking forward and plowing through a large puddle, Mud covers my windshield and we all can't help but smile.

"You're different, you took to the country life."

"It took me a while."

"You should've met her when she first moved here, such a priss," Christina gives me a smug look.

"Yeah yeah, but now I like getting a bit dirty."

"Thank goodness, I'd find you horribly boring if you didn't," Matthew says.

We mud all afternoon, taking turns going through the messy field. Four and Cici are the first ones to head home. She's still feeling under the weather and has had a headache all day. I'm standing in a circle with Christina, Peter, Drew and Matthew. Drew has Blair in his arms.

"Dude, his chick is a trip," Peter says as Drew hands him Blair.

"A trip?" Christina chuckles.

"Yeah a trip, did you see her?"

"Yes I saw her."

"Then you saw how she acts. Who goes mudding and doesn't get in a truck?"

"And gets pissed off when she gets dirty," Drew makes a sour face.

"Hey, be nice," I smirk, "Maybe she's actually cool."

"And maybe pigs fly when no one is looking."

* * *

_Here is the next chapter my dears, hope you guys liked it. I know it's kind of a filler, but more is coming your way._

_P.S. I started a new story, I swear it won't interfere with this one. _


	10. Champ vs Kroner

I have Champ trot around the dirt field while Molly takes Comet around the barrels. She asked me to teach her how to barrel race a few months back and we've been out in the field a few times a week since then. Zeke's truck pulls up next to my suburban, which Christina is currently sitting on the bumper of with Blair. Uriah and Zeke both hop out of the truck and go to the bed of it. They sit on the tailgate and Christina goes over to them as well. Not too long after they arrive Matthew parks his truck on the other side of my suburban.

"Is there some kind of party going on that I don't know about?" I yell over to my friends.

"We've got nothing to do," Uriah yells back to me.

"So you decided to come watch me teach Molly how to barrel race instead?"

"Might as well."

"Hey, Zeke! Why don't you call your boyfriend and tell him I've got an open dirt field and a horse that's dying to race."

"On it," Zeke smirks.

Molly starts to get frustrated when she can't make it around the barrel without hitting it. I watch her try a few more times and she groans when her leg touches it again. As I'm about to go help her I see Four's truck come over to the field with a trailer behind it. He gets out of the truck and so does Cici.

"Let's go say hi," I say to Molly, "You need a break, kiddo."

"I just can't get around the barrels," she sighs.

"You'll get it, I'll give you some tips, okay?"

"Yeah," she frowns and leads Comet towards the group. I have Champ walk next to Comet. Molly throws her head back in frustration as we stop the horses by everyone.

"I didn't know you ride, Molly," Cici smiles.

"I always have," Molly deadpans.

"Oh," Cici tries to keep the smile on her face.

"You ready to lose?" I look at Four, "Molly needs a little break. I figured her older brother losing to me would be a good way to spend her break."

"You've got faith in that horse of yours," he says with a crooked grin.

"Trained him myself, I know how he runs."

"I believe I trained that horse a bit too."

"But you haven't seen him since I got my hands on him."

"I think you're forgotten how fast Kroner is."

"Well, how about you saddle up."

"I was just about to Princess."

"Cute," I smirk, "But you're going to find out I'm not a little princess."

Four goes to the trailer and gets Kroner out. He leads Kroner around for a few minutes before getting on the saddle.

"Straight shot?" I ask him.

"Sounds good to me."

"We'll start a few yards behind the trucks. The finish line is after that barrel," I point to the barrel farthest from us.

"Ready to lose?" he asks as we get the horses to stand next to each other.

"You wish," I turn my mesh hat backwards so the wind doesn't take it off of me while Champ is running.

"Got to flip the hat around?" Four grins.

"Don't want it to hit you in the face while I'm ahead of you."

"You losers ready?" Uriah yells from the bed of Zeke's truck.

"There's only gonna be one loser here, Uri!" I yell.

"And her name is Tris," Four smirks.

"That's cute," Molly chuckles from the back of Comet.

"On your marks, get set, go!" Uriah yells

I lean forward in the saddle and tighten my legs against Champ. The two cues tell Champ to run. He takes off immediately, but so does Kroner. I can hear Molly yelling near the trucks as the wind whips my hair around. Kroner stays neck and neck with Champ, but near the halfway mark I make a kissing noise. The noise makes Champ run harder and it doesn't take him long to pass up Kroner. We fly by the barrel and I stop leaning forward, Champ goes back into a gallop before he starts trotting.

"How does failure taste?" I ask as I lead Champ back over.

"I never knew he was that fast," Four says in disbelief.

"I told you he's fast."

"Kroner is fast."

"Not as fast as Champ."

"Apparently."

We take the horses back over to the group, where everyone seems to be wearing a shitty grin. Molly winks at me as she has Comet come over towards me.

"Looks like you just got beat by a little city slicker," Christina grins and Blair claps.

"I got beat by the horse," Four smirks.

"I do believe I trained this horse and I know how to ride him," I say.

"Yeah, yeah. Champ is faster."

"So drinks are on you next time," I smile.

"Yes," Four rolls his eyes.

"Ready to get some more practice in?" I look over at Molly and she nods.

"Go show me what you've been working on," Four smiles at his little sister and she purses her lips together.

"I'm not good," Molly looks down at the ground.

"I'm sure you're doing great, you're still learning."

"I keep touching the barrel."

"I bet you're better than Cici," Four grins and Cici yells, "Hey!"

"Ever ridden a horse?" I ask Cici.

"No."

"So Molly is already better than you."

"Whatever," she rolls her eyes and I can see Christina pull up her nose.

"Come on Miss Molly. Try one run through and we'll fix some stuff after, okay?"

"I guess," Molly mumbles.

I have her go around the three barrels and she touches every single one of them. Comet is running too fast for Molly to control him, so she isn't going into the curves with him. The way her body is bouncing around is throwing the horse's balance off.

"Good job," I smile at her.

"I hit every barrel," she throws her hands up in the air.

"I used to hit every barrel too. You get better with practice," I say as Four comes over to us on Kroner.

"You trying to get him to go faster?" Four asks Molly.

"I'll never be able to get a good time if he isn't running his hardest."

"He's going to run, he's made to. You've got to take it slower. Every time you go through the motions it'll get easier for you. It's muscle memory. Get your own body used to everything and once you get the hang of it, pick the speed up."

"He's right," I tell Molly, "You can't control the speed he's going right now."

"He's not going too fast for me, I can get him to go faster."

"If he goes faster you're gonna end up in the dirt."

"Why?"

"With the way you're bouncing around, you'll fall off of him."

"I just need to learn not to hit the barrel. The speed is fine."

"Molly, we're trying to help you out. If you don't want the help, teach yourself," Four sternly tells her.

"I don't need your help, Tobias. I don't know why you suddenly think I do. I've done just fine without you."

"What's your problem?"

"You. You are my problem."

"I'm you're problem, really?"

"Yeah, you. You're barely ever home and when you come home you think we'll pick up right where we left off. We aren't. We haven't. And we won't. The sooner you go off with your girlfriend the better."

"Molly-"

"No, don't Molly me," she spits and takes Comet over to start another run.

I watch her as she gets ready to run. She's fuming and Four is shocked. I look over at him and his eyes are focused on his sister.

"She's just upset and took it out on you," I say to him.

"I don't know if she just took it out on me. She's been treating me different the whole time I've been home."

"She just misses you."

"Maybe," he frowns.

"She does, I know she does. You're her favorite person in the world."

He doesn't say anything back to me because we both turn to watch Comet go into full sprints. Molly leans as far forward as she can on the horse and I can tell she's trying to keep her body from bouncing around. She goes around the first corner and slips in her saddle. Her leg touches the barrel and I can hear her yell, "Shit!" I can see her legs tighten around the horse's middle and Comet's speed picks up as they near the second barrel. Comet's footing slips and I automatically cover my mouth. The horse almost falls to the ground but he regains his footing, however Molly gets thrown from her saddle. She hits the ground with a loud thud and I'm frozen for a minute.

"Molly!" Four gets off of Kroner and runs over to her. He slides onto the dirt with his knees coming to a stop by her. I get off of Champ and sprint over the them; I drop down to the ground as well.

"Molly," I look her over. She rolls from side to side groaning and her breathing is sharp.

"Baby, look at me," Four cups her face with his hands, her eyes flicker open and she takes in a pained breath before squeezing them shut again. Molly tries to catch her breath but can't seem to.

"What hurts?" I ask her as I examine her limbs, making sure nothing is broken.

"My. Chest," she whispers.

"Ribs?" Four moves his hands to her sides and lightly puts pressure on her ribs.

"Ow, ow," Molly whimpers between her ragged breaths.

"How's the rest of you feel?"

"Just, my ribs. Hurt." She starts to become panicked and her breathing hitches.

"Try to catch your breath babe," I say to her.

"You're okay," Four says as he sits back onto the ground. He gets Molly up and pulls her into his lap, his legs on the outside of hers. Her back is flush against his chest and he keeps his arms wrapped around her waist. "Just breath," he softly says to her. I watch the siblings, Four keeps his own breathing steady and Molly tries to match his. "You're okay, baby. Just keep breathing with me, okay?" he whispers to her and she nods.

The rest of our friends come over and watch as Molly starts to calm down. Zeke has the reigns of Kroner and Champ in his hands while Matthew has Comet's. Four is the only one saying anything; his words are hushed and steady. It doesn't take long for Molly to relax. When Four hears her breathing steady he lets out a sigh of relief.

"It hurts to breathe," Molly grimaces.

"I know, just focus on breathing. Don't panic. You just fell," her brother says.

"What am I gonna do?"

"We'll get you looked at. It's for sure bruised ribs, possibly broken. You took a hard fall."

"I was trying to show you that I don't-"

"I know," he cuts her off.

"I didn't mean it," her eyes well up with tears.

"I know," he kisses the side of her head. Four gets up from his spot and helps Molly to her feet. She goes to take a step and falls to the ground.

"My ankle, I messed it up," Molly rolls onto her back and rubs her eyes with her hands.

"Come here," Four gets her to her feet again before putting an arm on her back. He gets her feet and swings her up into his arms.

"You go get checked out and I'll take Comet back to the barn," I smile at Molly and she bites her bottom lip.

"I'm sorry, Tris."

"Don't be sorry. Shit happens. Just let your brother get you home and we'll get back to practicing when you're up to it."

"Okay," she frowns.

"I'm going to take her to my truck," Four says and then walks away from the group, Cici follows closely behind him.

"You think she'd stay back for a minute. We all heard Molly yell at him," Zeke says when the couple is out of earshot.

"She's not the brightest," I roll my eyes.

"It's obvious that he needs to talk some crap out wit Molly. And after that fall I'm sure he's freaking out inside, but he won't show it. It'll give Molly a panic attack. He's the one person who can calm her down without fail. Cici needs to give them just a little bit of space."

"She can't asses the situation going on around her," I shake my head, "Molly has made it more than obvious she isn't a fan of Cici. I'm sure she isn't going to want to sit in a truck with her, especially when she's hurting."

"I don't get what he sees in her," Uriah mumbles.

"Uri!" Christina smacks his arm with her free hand.

"I'm just saying," he whispers as Four starts walking back over to us.

"I'm just going to take her to urgent care," Four rubs the back of his neck.

"Good idea," I say.

"Yeah, I'm more than positive she has at least one broken rib."

"Poor kid," Christina frowns.

"She's a tough one though. The minute she's feeling better she'll be back on Comet," I grin.

"Yeah she will," Four's lips curve up slightly.

"Want me to take Kroner to my parents' place?" Zeke asks.

"Do you mind?"

"Not at all. I'll just put him in the pasture with the other horses."

"Thanks."

"No problem."

"Text me or something when you find everything out," I say to him as he begins walking to his truck.

"I will."

"Take care of my girl," I smirk.

"You mean my girl," he grins.

"You wish. Now get her to a doctor."

"Later guys," Four says to everyone before jogging back to his truck.


	11. Cici

**Tobias**

I look in the rearview mirror of my truck to glace at Molly. She's looking out the window as we head back home. Molly hasn't said much since we left urgent care, but she does seem to be feeling better. Her breathing isn't as jagged as it was when she first fell.

By the time I pull up into the driveway Molly is fast asleep; her head leaned against the window. Cici gets out of my truck and slams the door shut, jostling Molly in the back seat. I shoot her a dirty look and she shrugs her shoulders before walking towards the house. Since we left after Molly fell Cici has been acting differently. I walk around the truck and slowly open up Molly's door, she blinks open her eyes and goes to yawn but grimaces midway through it.

"Come here," I say to her and she holds her arms out towards me. Gently I grab onto her and get her situated in my arms. Molly rests her arms around my neck and goes back to sleep almost instantly. The medication has knocked out my little sister. I shut the truck door with my foot and head inside. My dad opens the door and lets me in.

"How's she?" I can see the worry in his eyes.

"Sore," I frown.

"She on medication?"

"Yeah. She broke three ribs, the doctor said for her to take things easy the next few weeks."

"Poor kid," my dad says as he places a hand on her cheek.

"I'm going to put her in her room. Let her sleep."

"Okay."

I get Molly into her room and move her pillows against the headboard of her bed to keep her propped up. I've broken my ribs before and know how uncomfortable it can be sleep. After I look over my handy work I get Molly onto her bed. She stays asleep and I let out a sigh of relief. Having her home and comfortable takes a weight off of my shoulders. "You scared the crap out of me today," I whisper as I watch my sister.

There is a knock on the doorway and I turn to look at Cici. Her brown eyes are glossy and I know she can tell I'm confused. "Can I talk to you?" she mumbles.

"Uh, yeah."

I follow her into my room and she takes a seat on my bed. Cici pats the bed and I sit down next to her.

"So?" I look at her, she's staring at her fingernails.

"Are you always going to ride?"

"What?"

"Are you going to keep riding broncs and bulls? How long do you plan on doing it?"

"I don't know. Why?" I chuckle.

"It's dangerous."

"I know it is."

"I'm not sure I can keep doing this."

"Doing what?"

"This," she gestures to me.

"Me?"

"Us. I can't date someone who doesn't worry about their own health."

"Worry about my health?"

"You can die doing what you do."

"You can die doing a lot of things."

"Yeah you can, but people don't choose to keep on doing them."

"Cici, you met me because of what I do."

"I know."

"And you were okay with me doing it. Actually you said you liked that I do it."

"I know," she keeps avoiding my eye contact.

"What's going on? Cause I feel like you're just trying to find a way to end this."

"I'm not. I just, it's not you it's me."

"Right," I let out a chuckle.

"I'm serious."

"Why don't you just be honest with me," I stand up from the bed and look down at her.

"I am. I'm being honest with you right now."

"You're lying. Why are you trying to end this?"

"I'm not trying. I just, I can't be with someone that I constantly have to worry about."

"Really?"

"And your sister doesn't even like me."

"Now my sister is the reason you're trying to break up?"

"She really doesn't like me."

"She'll come around."

"She rather be with Tris."

"She knows Tris," I throw my hands up.

"Why can't you just accept that I'm breaking up with you?"

"You're lying to me. Why do you seriously want to break up? We've had a good time this whole week and now hours before you leave you want to break up. What is going on?"

"I told you. I can't date someone with a risky job and your sister hates me. I just, I don't think we're meant for each other."

"Whatever," I huff out a breath and turn on my heel to leave my room. Her phone ringing stops me in my tracks. I grab the phone and go to toss it to her, but the caller id stops me. In bold letters it says Luis. "Who's Luis?"

"What?" her eyes shoot up to look at mine.

"Who's Luis?"

"A friend."

"Just a friend?" I raise my eyebrows.

"Yes," she jumps up from my bed and goes to grab the phone that has stopped ringing.

"How come I've never heard of him before?"

"I've mentioned him."

"No you haven't."

"Yes I have," she rolls her eyes. The phone starts ringing again and the same name flashes on the screen. Cici reaches for the phone but I answer it instead.

"Hey sweetheart," the plummy voice says.

"Hello Luis. Your name is Luis, right?" I glare at Cici.

"Where's Cici?"

"Oh, my girlfriend?"

"Who is this?"

"Cici's boyfriend."

"Shut up bro, where's Cici?" he laughs, "We both know she's single."

"Yeah, you're right," I look at Cici and her cheeks are red in embarrassment.

"So where's my girl?" I hang up the phone and toss it to Cici.

"Pack up your shit, I'm bringing you to the airport," I storm out of my room and slam the door shut.

I go outside and pace in the yard. Part of me is hurt, but a bigger part of me is pissed off. Pissed off that I chose a girl who doesn't respect me enough to tell other guys that she's taken. "Fucking bitch," I murmur, as I pull out my phone. It rings a few times before Zeke answers.

"Hey," Zeke answers the phone.

"I need a favor."

"What?"

"Take Cici to the airport for me?"

"All the way out to Portland?"

"Yeah."

"Dude, I can't. What's going on?"

"I'm not taking her, screw her."

"What happened?"

"I found out she's a bitch, that's what happened. So I'm not taking her."

"I can't take her. Hold on," he says and I continue pacing around the yard, "Tris can take her."

"Seriously?"

"Yeah she said she has time. She's heading over now."

"Alright. I'll talk to you later."

"Alright."

I hang up the phone and stay outside, fuming. The front door opens and I turn to see Cici carrying her suitcases.

"Tobias," she starts.

"No, don't Tobias me. I don't want to hear a word that comes out of your mouth."

"Just let me explain."

"Explain what? That you're a cheater? That I've wasted my time with you. Why'd you even come out here with me?"

"I wanted to be with you. I wanted to see where you grew up, I wanted to be apart of your life."

"Sure you did," I raise my voice.

"I do. Luis means nothing."

"Nothing?" I laugh.

"I swear, I didn't want to end things because of him."

"You're such a fucking liar!"

"I'm not, Tobias I swear. I just can't be with you. My worrying about you will eat me alive if we're together."

"That's the worst excuse I've ever heard."

"It's not an excuse."

"Just admit you've been lying to me. Admit that you've been screwing around with other guys."

"I was. I just…"

"You can't even deny that you've been fooling around with other guys."

"I love you," she whispers.

"You have a funny way of showing it."

"I do, it's just your life is too dangerous and. I have needs, okay?"

"So you need other guys in your life?"

"I just, there are things you don't fulfill for me."

"Are you referring to the fact that I won't sleep with you?" I furrow my brows.

"I mean…" she keeps her eyes on the ground.

"Seriously? You cheat cause I won't screw you?"

"We've dated for a while already!" she crosses her arms over her chest. I hear Tris' Tahoe pull up near us, but I ignore it.

"So because we've dated for a certain amount of time I'm just supposed to sleep with you?"

"I'm not saying that."

"But you are," I chuckle and turn around from her for a second before spinning around to see her again.

"Maybe I need someone who is more physical with me!"

"Well my sincerest apologies for not wanting to sleep with a girl that I'm dating."

"You're so pigheaded! You aren't even trying to see things my way!"

"I'm the one in fault here? How does that even work? You're the one fucking other guys but saying you're in a relationship with me!"

"Hey, hey, hey," Tris yells and runs between us.

"Get your shit," I glare at Cici.

"Whatever," she rolls her eyes and goes to grab her stuff.

"My trunk is open, just toss it in there," Tris says.

"You're not taking me?" Cici looks at me.

"That's adorable," I take in a deep breath.

"Come on," Tris grabs onto Cici's arm and leads her over to her things. I watch as the girls get Cici's things into Tris' car.

"Tobias-" Cici keeps her voice soft.

"Kick rocks," I cut her off.

"Go in the car," Tris looks at Cici, Cici sighs and listens to Tris. Once Cici has the door of the car shut Tris walks over to me and talks in a hushed voice, "What the hell happened?"

"I don't want to talk about it."

"It's going to take me a while to get to Portland and back here. When I'm back you're coming with me and you're telling me what is going on, okay?"

"I don't-"

"Okay?"

"Fine, okay."

"I'll call you when I'm close."

"Okay," I say and she nods before going to her car.

* * *

_Sorry for the short chapter, but Cici is gone. Hope you guys liked it. _

_Thanks for all the positive thoughts, you guys are awesome. Things are being figured out with the problem that arose earlier this week. Nothing is really okay yet, but we're figuring it all out. _


End file.
